CITY Building has revealed a new report to support the firm’s diversity drive has found that almost half of its employees come from the three most deprived areas in Scotland.
The study, conducted by Glasgow researchers GenAnalytics, revealed that 49% of the City Building workforce comes from postcodes in the top three areas of the Social Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD). SIMD ranks geographical areas in Scotland based on relative levels of deprivation, using measures such as health, crime and employment.
Glasgow-based City Building said that with their employees earning an average salary of £27,805, this is helping to reduce income poverty in these areas.
The report found that 10% of City Building’s workforce are women, which is in line with the wider construction industry figure of 11%. However, the research showed that the firm employs 16 times more females (32%) in craft trade roles than the industry average (2%) while half of the senior management team is female. The mean gender pay gap is 3.6% compared with a Scottish average of 16%.
Research found that the ethnic diversity of City Building’s workforce is below the UK average at 2% compared with 6% for the wider industry, but progress is being made amongst younger employees with 4% of apprentices coming from an ethnic minority background compared with 2% of apprentices across Scotland.
Jane Gotts, director of GenAnalytics said, “This is an insightful and significant piece of research undertaken by City Building. The organisation should rightly be applauded for seeking to analyse and further understand its performance across a range of diversity measures. This research enables City Building to establish baselines to measure progress moving forward and build on the many positive findings from their existing efforts to support a diverse and inclusive workforce.”
Councillor Susan Aitken, leader of Glasgow City Council added, “Improving diversity is key to achieving greater equality and fairness. It is also crucial to the success of Glasgow’s businesses, economy and society as we seek to deliver innovation and growth. This new report from GenAnalytics shows how City Building is leading the way when it comes to supporting and improving greater diversity and equality. Its socially inclusive approach is creating a bright future for a wide range of people, including young men and women from some of our most deprived communities, and is supporting the city’s ambitions to thrive and grow.
“I hope it inspires other businesses to embrace diversity and help deliver access and opportunity for all.”
