Wates aims to drive gender equality
Wates is aiming to improving gender imbalances across the construction industry by launching its second STEM Returners programme.
The programme will include opportunities across the construction business, including in site manager, project manager and project engineer roles.
They will be based at Leatherhead at Wates’ head office, or in Luton or Warrington.
Return-to-work specialists STEM Returners will source the candidates and provide career coaching and mentoring.
The new programme follows the first partnership between Wates and STEM Returners last year, which helped six returners back to industry.
One of those people was Anwesha Gupta, who was able to secure a role as a Bid Manager after a two-year career break to look after her young daughter after moving to the UK.
Prior to finding the opportunity at Wates, Gupta, who is base near St Neots in Cambridgeshire, found it difficult to reach recruiters and secure an interview through standard recruitment channels, despite her 11 years’ experience in the civil and structural industry.
'Most of the time I was told that they saved my resume for future reference. It was tricky to secure a further interview as I didn’t have prior UK experience,' Gupta said.
STEM Returners’ programmes aims to eliminate the barriers to work posed by a career break by giving candidates real work experience and mentoring during their placement, as well as supporting them to adjust to life back in work.
Natalie Desty, Director of STEM Returners said, ‘Stories like Anwesha’s are very common. Despite excellent skills, knowledge and experience, a gap on a CV puts you at a disadvantage, which shouldn’t be the case.
‘We are delighted to be continuing our partnership with Wates’.
Since STEM Returners first launched in 2017, more than 450 STEM Returners candidates have joined programmes across the UK.
