Four Ways to Fix The Skilled Trades Hiring Pipeline and Retain More Women
Hiring more women into the Red Seal manufacturing trades should be a strategic solution to building long-term workforce sustainability and inclusivity. Not just a diversity metric or a quota to fill.
But the statistics tell another story: “Nearly half (46%) of the men registered in a Red Seal trade completed their program, compared to just over one-third (36%) of the women,” as reported by the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum. So, why don’t more women stay in their skilled trades apprenticeship roles?
Manufacturing business leaders must create better pathways for women to thrive in their careers. Let’s review four steps to make that structural change in your business.
Step 1: Assess Your Recruitment and Interview Framework
According to Indeed, most employers quickly scan resumes, on average for 7.4 seconds, when evaluating candidates. Even in that short time, unconscious bias creeps in.
For example, there is a “fear among many men in the skilled trades that the presence of women may devalue their work and that women do not have the physical characteristics (e.g., biological strength) to perform the tasks.” Likewise, women are less likely to receive callbacks than men.
A good model to follow is the Canadian government’s recommendations for assessing and improving the pre-recruitment process. Answer these questions with your team:
- What are your ideal candidate’s qualifications?
- What is your hiring team’s process to ensure everyone is asked the same questions?
- What are your standard candidate rating methods and how will final decisions be made?
- Who will be the employees involved at different hiring stages (e.g., for planning, administration, and scoring), and what training will they need to complete to do so?
- How will you ensure there is equal representation of employees involved in final hiring decisions?
Step 2: De-Bias the Candidate Attraction and Sourcing Funnel
HR teams must also reframe or rewrite job listings, highlighting a candidate’s ability to learn on the job and their comfort using digital tools, which are fundamental in today’s job market. Remove any language that implies unconscious bias (e.g., references to gender or age limits).
Don’t wait for candidates to find you. Promote and highlight actionable career paths within your organization to show there are growth opportunities for women. Explain clear timelines of what an apprentice’s journey looks like to achieve Red Seal journey status, so there are no surprises after joining the team.
Additionally, promote an inclusive workplace culture. Highlight wage equity, caregiving flexibility, and separate washrooms for women.
To build a more inclusive hiring funnel, HR teams can also partner with proven Canadian workforce accelerators, such as:
- Excellence in Manufacturing Consortium (EMC): Leverage funded initiatives like the HerJourney program.
- Pre-Apprenticeship Leaders: Women Building Futures, Build a Dream, and the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum (CAF).
Step 3: Promote Psychological and Physical Workplace Safety
After acceptance into apprenticeship programs, “women experience higher attrition rates compared to men, citing issues related to lack of familiarity with tools, isolation, and discrimination. In trades like electricians, laborers, and plumbers/pipefitters/steamfitters—close to half of women canceled their apprenticeship agreements.” (Front Public Health, Jan 2022)
To attract and retain more women, manufacturers must offer practical, immediate steps for leadership teams to follow. For example, conduct mandatory personal protective equipment (PPE) sizing audits and ensure more welcoming, safe facilities through zero-tolerance harassment policies.
EMC’s Inclusive Workplace program helps manufacturing supervisors and managers handle conflict resolution and build respectful team dynamics directly on the manufacturing floor.
Manufacturers should also pair senior tradespeople nearing retirement with incoming female apprentices. They should serve as mentors and confidants so women feel safe and seen in the workplace.
This strategy helps preserve institutional knowledge and builds a strong sense of community and belonging for female apprentices.
Step 4: Support Non-Linear Career Advancement
Employers must acknowledge that women often face complex personal challenges with elderly caregiving, identity shifts, and career re-entry after mat leave.
Manufacturing leaders should formally design career pathways that allow women to step back if needed and re-engage in the workforce without losing their upward career mobility or community relationships.
Review Lean In Canada’s Calls to Action to help women reach their full career potential.
Finally, recognize the invisible labour women in the skilled trades often take on without pay, such as informally mentoring other women, sitting on workplace safety committees, and driving team culture initiatives.
These leadership skills-building tasks should be rewarded and compensated appropriately.
The Long-Term Inclusive Hiring Impact for Women
Inclusive hiring is a core pillar of operational resiliency and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) goals in Canadian manufacturing.
Manufacturers can benchmark their current hiring practices using tools like the HerJourney Program (HerJourney Workplace Assessment) to move from general inclusion language to measurable, lasting structural change.
Also, visit EMC Canada’s Member Needs page to collect valuable insights, benchmark key developments, and share updates.