Some 27,193 women are currently active as workers, employees or self-employed in the construction sector in Belgium, 4% more than last year, Bouwunie, the Flemish federation of SMEs and self-employed in the construction sector, indicated on Sunday. building. However, it considers that the proportion of women in the sector is still too low.
LThe number of female workers has thus increased from 1,798 to 1,909, an increase of 6.2%. However, these represent only 1% of the total number of construction workers. Female employees saw their number increase by 4.4%, from 19,218 to 20,068, i.e. one third of the total number of employees in the sector. Finally, with a 2.2% increase, there are now 5,216 self-employed in Belgium, which represents 6.3% of the self-employed in the sector.
Bouwunie, however, believes that the proportion of women in the construction sector is too low. “When people think of construction, they first think of traditional professions such as bricklayer or roofer. Very physical professions, which are of course also open to women, but which may be less attractive to them at first sight, ”explains Jean-Pierre Waeytens, leader of the sectoral federation. “However, there are so many other trades in construction: project manager, painter-decorator, or manager of his own construction company. »
And Mr. Waeytens pointed out that women can prove to be an undeniable asset for the sector. “Women are less familiar with construction jargon, they see beyond pure technique and have a greater sense of detail,” he adds, indicating that the construction sector is looking for 20,000 workers a year.