News & Insights
Celebrating International Women’s Day 2022 at Mercury
Mercury is a proud supporter of International Women’s Day (IWD) 2022.
This year’s theme is #BreakTheBias which focuses on celebrating women’s achievements, raising awareness against bias and taking action for equality.
We understand the importance of promoting women’s achievements and in increasing visibility of our women in construction. While females in this industry may be fewer in numbers when compared to males, their dynamic work and leadership makes a significant difference to the projects that we deliver throughout Europe.
Speaking ahead of International Women’s Day 2022, Joanne Cluxton, Group HR Director, said: “We are proud of the milestones we have reached to date on our journey to address gender imbalances in the construction industry. Our commitment to equality goes beyond International Women’s Day and is something we strive to instill into our working culture on a daily basis.
“The responsibility falls on each and every one of us to continue to actively promote the contribution and achievements of the dynamic females on our global teams. It is well regarded that this is a male dominated industry, but we can all play a part in inspiring the next generation to become part of an exciting future for construction that places females and equality to the forefront. – Joanne Cluxton, Group HR Director.
“I am proud to be part of a company that is in full support of the #BreakTheBias campaign. You have to be brave to achieve incredible things and I believe, that at Mercury, our support networks empower our people to be the best that they can be, regardless of their gender, nationality or background.”
As an employer of choice, we recognise the need to attract and retain the best female talent into the future. It is our duty to be recognised as a safe, diverse and inclusive employer, offering equal opportunities and investing in the well-being and development of all our people.
We have made a significant effort to reduce the gender pay gap year on year and are pleased to report that this gap has reduced further over the past twelve months.
In conjunction to this, we are happy to share a number of key milestones which we have achieved, as we continue on our journey towards a more equal workplace:
- Females make up 9% of our workforce (Including trades) – the industry average is 6.5%.
- Female hires increased from 11% in 2020 to 16% in 2021.
- On our graduate programme, women represent 20% of our 2021 cohort, up from 7% in 2020.
- Our number of female apprentices has grown by 200% in 2021.
- Female promotions as a percentage of female employees in 2021 was 19.2%, compared to 15.9% for males.
- 14.2% of our senior executives are women.
- Our retention rate for female employees is 99% as of Q4 2021.
While the dominance of men within the construction industry is common knowledge, we are striving to change this perception. As industry leaders, we are obliged to address any gender imbalances by inspiring more females to choose a career in STEM.
Our achievements for 2021 can be improved upon further, but our progress shows us that with focus, parity is possible and we need to keep finding new and innovative ways to attract and source new hires from under-represented groups.
We have organised a number of IWD initiatives across our projects and locations for the duration of this week:
Tuesday March 8th – #BreakTheBias Instagram takeover & IWD themed cake and coffee mornings.
Wednesday March 9th – Mercury speaker at CIF International Women’s Day conference.
Friday March 11th – Female Apprentice networking event at our Apprentice Development Centre, Ballycoolin, Dublin 15.
Ongoing this week: Look out for our ‘Women in Construction’ series on social media where we interview some of female employees about their experiences in the industry.
Ongoing throughout March: Our Refer A Friend scheme has been increased from €4,000 to €6,000 for employees who successfully refer a female candidate for the month of March.
International Women’s Day 2022 at Mercury
As part of our International Women’s Day celebrations, we are renewing our ‘Women in Construction’ series which focuses on interviews with Mercury’s female employees and their allies. You can read the first of this week’s articles which features Amy Doyle, EHS advisor, and Fred Doyle, EHS Training Lead, who are a father and daughter EHS team for our Advanced Technology Business Unit, by clicking here.
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