By Joe Bousquin for ConstructionDive
When it comes to diversity and inclusion, construction is still on the ground floor.
Compared to the overall workforce, the construction industry is overwhelmingly White and male. Even though Hispanic or Latino people, which is a measure of ethnicity and not race, make up 30% of construction workers, they’re often in lower-level positions without opportunity for advancement, enforced by what Turner Construction CEO Peter Davoren calls the “caste system” of construction’s top-down hierarchy.
While the numbers are lamentable in themselves, they’re becoming a larger issue for contractors who are running into diversity and inclusion requirements from clients and government agencies.