women affiliated to Social Security in the construction sector in Spain during 2022 reached the figure of 147,337 workers, which is 7,711 more women than the previous year and already represents 11.1% of the total number of workers in the sector.
The numbers are not deceiving. Last year, women made up the largest percentage of construction workers since 2016. The explanation must be found, in part, in organizations and companies that, such as the Construction Labor Foundation or the Efebé Group, organize training programs “to break the stigma and increase the number of women at work”.
Yanet Rubiano and Nouria Ariara are two of the participants in a job placement program aimed at women at risk of social exclusion that wants not only to offer them employment, but also to put an end to the stigma of masons.
“I came from Colombia to improve my prospects”, explains Yanet, 48 years old, married with a son, who lives in Hospitalet de Llobregat. He refuses to talk about his past in South America, although he admits that he has been through “very hard situations”.
Now, participating for the second time in a course for women masons opens a new window to the future. “I learn a lot here, Spain is much more technically advanced. I would like to be able to have my own painting and restoration finishing company”, explains Yanet.
A similar situation is that of Nouria Ariara, a 37-year-old Moroccan from Tangier with an eight-year-old little girl in her care. Nouria rebels against the stigma of women being forced to have jobs such as “sewing or ironing” and claims that “we can do any job”, and for this reason she envisions a new future between paintings and plasterboard.
The ten students of this course, among whom there are two men, have just completed the first practical painting module at the Badalona facilities of the Construction Labor Foundation and have started the construction course. The training takes place from May to September and is divided into seven blocks. They learn auxiliary tasks at work; to manufacture pastes, mortars, adhesives and concrete; to prepare equipment and means; to adapt the supports for the coverings; to carry out plastering and coatings and to adapt painting jobs to construction by applying protective primers.
Jaouadi Achabar, 34, is a Berber from Alhucemas who arrived in Spain on a tourist visa. He is required to take the course in order to qualify for a permit “that will allow me to work legally”, which is officially known as “rooting by training”. With the new knowledge acquired, plus “the jobs I already did with my father, who was a builder”, he hopes to be able to build a future with guarantees in the country.
The students who take these courses “end up having the training of laborers”, explains Anna Fornt, general director of the Efebé Group. They contact these initiatives that are developed in Badalona through third sector entities. The selection is made by the Ared Foundation in Barcelona, ??which helps socially disadvantaged people in their employment.
The complete training consists of three levels which, once passed, allow the students to obtain the certificate of professional skills and enter a job exchange maintained by the same foundation. Completing the complete practical course also gives the option of entering the first level of access to an intermediate level of professional training in the same specialties. Part of the success of the project is getting the participants back into the education system, Fornt underlines.
From the Efebé Group, experts in the design, adaptation, equipment and maintenance of spaces, especially schools and residences for the elderly, they have already hired several “very well trained” women who have passed the construction assistant course. They explain that there is a lot of demand for professionals and that, in addition, in the construction sector salaries can be collected that “exceed the interprofessional minimum wage by 30%”.
Until now, 46.8% of the women hired in construction occupied an administrative role, which is why empowerment to access other jobs in the sector “is the key to not leaving out 50% of the talent of our population”, reasons the group’s general director.
Another hopeful fact is that 21% of women’s contracts in construction are indefinite.
“The effort that women have made to integrate into the construction sector is very important,” reveals Lucía López, manager of the Construction Labor Foundation. And it is clear that the drive and determination shown by the women are paying off. “If in 2017 they accounted for only 3% of jobs in construction, in 2023 they will already represent 12%”, although he expects this percentage to increase much more with successful initiatives such as training programs.