Women in the Industry: Zoe’s Story
We are thrilled to introduce Zoe O’Rourke as part of our ‘Women in the Industry’ campaign. Zoe is a valued member and one of the backbones at PHD Access. In the video, she shares her journey into the scaffolding industry, highlighting the diversity within the industry and how PHD addresses this issue.
Zoe’s journey to Business Development at PHD has been unique. She started as a teacher in a primary school and later realised that her work-life balance was being affected. So, she decided to go back to her roots in sales. Eventually, an opportunity to work for PHD came along, and she has never looked back since.
Gender diversity is a challenge that every industry has grappled with and continues to face. When asked if anything more could be done, Zoe replied.
We have to promote the industry to young girls at school. So, they see construction as a career path, because if they don’t know about it and they don’t see themselves as being in that industry, then they’re not going to go for those roles.
When asked about a fun fact most people at work might not know, Zoe took a deep breath and said,
I was in a music video, a long time ago for a song called Flowers by Sweet Female Attitude.
Our campaign focuses on the women within PHD and their stories. Recent reports by the Office for National Statistics have shown that the employment of women aged 16 and over has been steadily increasing after the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching the highest level in the last ten years.(LFS: In Employment: Construction: UK: Women: Aged 16 and over: Thousands: NSA – Office for National Statistics).
With the current labour and skills shortage being the primary issue in this male-dominated industry, training and hiring women is the most effective way to narrow the gap.
We hope our campaign will encourage more women to join the industry.
