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Grant to Help Chicago Women Find Skilled Construction Jobs

For the past 25 years, the local organization has been helping women gain access to high-wage, high-skill jobs in the construction trades. A journey level tradeswoman earns approximately three-and-a-half times the wage of a childcare worker, a job typically filled by women.

According to the Department of Labor, women account for less than 3% of good paying skilled trades jobs and 60% of the country’s minimum wage employees.

The three-year grant is being used to establish the Women in Skilled Trades project, a network of community and public partnerships that will provide outreach and training and determine the best practices for successfully placing women in construction jobs.

“This program will ensure that women, an untapped labor pool, have the necessary access and training to secure highly skilled, good quality positions, and the support system to allow them to succeed in those positions,” said Lauren Sugerman, president of Chicago Women in Trades. “The construction industry and out society as a whole benefit each time an additional tradeswoman is trained and is at work in our community.”

The construction industry in northeast Illinois is expected to face a significant shortage of skilled labor in the future and will need 38,000 new workers over the next decade.

Chicago Women in Trades works to eliminate barriers typically associated with women entering the skilled trades and provides awareness of job opportunities to high school girls enrolled in vocational classes, helps job candidates meet entry requirements and lends support to pre-apprentices during rigorous training programs.

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