Cortexa are delighted to announce its membership to the Construction Inclusion Coalition. As the leading online learning partner to the UK construction and supply chain industry, we are committed to improving equity, diversity and inclusion across this great and important industry.

It comes as the construction sector has one of the most rapidly aging workforces in the UK, with research showing that close to a million construction workers – around a third of the UK’s total workforce – are set to retire in the next ten years. Despite this, the industry is currently only made up of 15% women and 6% from ethnic minority backgrounds and faces challenges attracting and recruiting from a diverse pool of talent.

The Coalition is being launched alongside new polling which shows that only one third [36%] of British people would free confident that their female family of friends would be safe and respected if they joined the construction industry. The research of over 2,000 adults also outlines the opportunity for the sector, with nearly half of people [46%] saying they’d be more likely to actively seek out employment opportunities in the construction industry if it demonstrated a stronger commitment to diversity and inclusion.

The Coalition is guided by the Built on Better Pledge, a set of seven areas members commit to taking action on. The Pledge shapes how the Coalition will build consistency and improve standards across the industry.

They are calling upon all parts of the industry – from housebuilders to manufacturers, logistics and suppliers – to join the Coalition and take action to improve equity, diversity and inclusion.