Shufflebottom – helping to break down barriers for #womenofsteel
At the heart of Shufflebottom’s ESG has been a longstanding commitment to achieve gender parity in our workplace. Historically, careers in steel construction have been seen as ‘heavy’, demanding physical strength and often seen as ‘men’s jobs’ and so we have worked hard over the years to shift these perceptions.
Today, we are proof that these outdated perceptions are changing. Due to updated technology and internet literacy, it is now easier to work on and off the field for women, and we are proud that out of 78 employees, we have 10 #womenofsteel working with us in a variety of roles including: as Managing Director, structural engineering, health & safety, sales, and accountancy. We take great encouragement from the fact that this is a ratio of 12.8% women/men which is above the 10% average of women employed in the UK steel industry.
But despite these positive figures, we have never before had a female welder on-site with us at Cross Hands until recently when we welcomed our first female welder, Luisa Stirling, onto the factory floor for Work Experience. Luisa, (formerly of Pontardulais Comprehensive School) joined her peers, Leon Munsor (formerly Ysgol Bro Myrddin), and Max Knaiz (formerly Queen Elizabeth High School), all three now first-year welding & fabrication students at Coleg Sir Gar, our local Carmarthenshire FE College. All three were eager to gain valuable insights into welding & fabrication in the real-life and fast-moving context of the world of steel construction and fabrication at Shufflebottom.
During their time with us, under the astute mentorship of Assistant Foreman, Remi Serapinas, and Welder, Henri Jones (who himself gained his welding coding at just age 13!) we are sure that they have taken big steps forward in their career development towards a future in welding & fabrication to which all three aspire. We are confident they have gained immensely in the following areas:
Practical learning
Skills development
Career exploration
Decision-making skills
Confidence building
Networking opportunities
For Shufflebottom, our mission continues as we strive to build our business on equality so that we benefit from mutual skills – male and female. To this end, we make it our business to reach out and connect with local schools, FE Colleges and Universities – we take our positive work-force role models to them, and welcome students through our doors at HQ, all in the hope that students and graduates will consider a future in steel. This has been recently backed-up, and our resolve strengthened, by our membership of the 5% Club, an industry-led initiative in line with Shufflebottom’s ongoing social value commitments to attracting new talent to the steel industry as well as upskilling existing talent within the steel industry.
We were delighted to have Luisa, Leon and Max with us and wish them all the best going forward. Who knows, they might be back here soon as members of our wonderful ‘teamofsteel! Pob lwc!