Reducing gender segregation at work will help address skills shortages – SOLAS [Video]

Reducing gender segregation will facilitate a larger supply of skills to meet demand in certain occupations, assist in reducing gays and improve work-life balance, according to SOLAS.

The Further Education and Training Authority said in its quarterly skills bulletin that gender-based occupational segregation means there is an unequal distribution of males and females across certain roles.

For instance, men take up 90% of jobs in construction and agriculture while women occupy 83% of jobs in health and social work.

Furthermore, SOLAS cited the longer average hours worked in ‘male-dominated occupations’ as a potential barrier to women entering or remaining in those roles, with men working in male-dominated industries accounting for almost half of employees working 40 or more hours per week.

Meanwhile, men who are in relationships and work in male-dominated occupations are least likely to have a partner working full-time when compared to both women and other men in ‘female-dominated’ or ‘mixed gender occupations’, so being the main earner may result in an increased …