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11 July 2022
Diversity in the construction sector
Lack of diversity in the construction sector, what impacts? What are the benefits of diversity in this sector?
ReportIn Canada, the construction industry is much undiversified: its population is predominantly white, male and heteronormative. Women, aboriginals, people from cultural or LGBTQ+ communities are very badly represented.
A 2018 study showed that the Canadian labor force composed of 47.7% women and they represent only 12% of the construction sector workforce. More than 76% of these women who work in the construction sector hold administrative support jobs in construction companies. So, even if 12% of women work in the construction sector, the proportion of those who are employed on construction sites (skilled trades such as carpenters-joiners, bricklayers-masons, boilermakers, etc.) is only about 4%.
Regarding Aboriginal people, despite the fact that about 26% of Aboriginal Canadians reside in Ontario, this province has the second lowest proportion of Aboriginal workers in the construction sector. It has been observed that the western provinces have been successful in attracting Indigenous construction workers, but this effort does not follow in other regions because in Canada, only 0.66% of construction employees are Indigenous.
According to the Institut de la statistique du Québec, it is estimated that approximately 4% of people with an immigrant background make up the construction workforce in Québec. Workers with disabilities represent 3% and people who identify with the LGBTQ+ community 5%. These very low figures show that diversity in the construction sector is not yet very present.
The impacts of this lack of diversityFirst, studies show that immigrants and women who have not been integrated into the existing work culture are at a higher risk of work-related injuries or illnesses.
A lack of diversity leads to social exclusion, according to calculations, 4,885 hours of productivity would be lost on average every year for a company of 100 employees due to exclusionary behavior, which would represent more than $105,000 in total salaries loss over the year.
On the other hand, it has been proven that women are 20% less likely than heterosexual white men to gain support for their ideas; people of color are 24% less likely and members of LGBT groups are 21% less likely. This causes their companies to lose crucial opportunities, because it is known that a heterogeneous group avoids groupthink and is able to understand unmet needs in under-exploited markets.
Pros of diversityGroups whose members have higher levels of “social sensitivity” (when the group is socially diverse) have been shown to be collectively more intelligent. That is to say, they have a better ability to make diverse and varied profiles work together. Teams made up of more women show greater social sensitivity and, therefore, greater collective intelligence in contrast to teams made up of fewer women.
And it's pretty obvious: diverse teams are better equipped to foster innovation because groupthink is avoided (when the group gives itself the illusion of thinking about a problem and managing to make a good decision while in reality the thinking of individuals and of the group is paralyzed by the group effect). Innovation leads to better results, and these results drive business performance and profits.
A few numbers to illustrate this:
- A study found that companies with greater racial diversity make a turnover 15 times more important on average than those with lower levels of diversity.
- Diversified companies have 2.3 times higher cash inflows per employee (over a 3-year period)
- Globally, the most diversified companies are 43 times more likely to earn higher profits
ConclusionIn 2027, 21% of the workforce will be over 65, which means a large number of retirements, which will further increase the labor shortage. And we know that 65% of employees affected by exclusionary behavior are likely to quit their job.
A greater open-mindedness and a diversification of profiles in a company would therefore be the solution to overcome this shortage of manpower with, in addition, a positive impact whether on the turnover of the company or the employee’s well-being.