Thiess celebrated the International Women’s Day by calling on its employees to come up with plans and ideas on how to create a more attractive and flexible work environment for women.
Employees of the mining contractor and Australian infrastructure firm gathered in their Brisbane headquarters in a workshop to examine ways in which the company could increase the diversity and range of opportunities it had to offer.
The company was also keen to identify ways it could encourage people from a diverse range of backgrounds to join its 15,000 workforce.
Women are becoming more visible across the engineering landscape, although they currently represent less than 10 per cent of the engineering workforce in Australia.
Human Resources Manager Sandra Bell said despite the small representation, women were punching well above their weight in a number of areas of achievement.
Thiess is actively recruiting women across all disciplines and geographic regions and has placed a high priority on addressing workplace diversity across its operations.
“As part of our commitment to workforce diversity, we monitor female participation rates and maintain active membership in the Diversity Council of Australia,” Ms Bell said.
“The percentage of women employed by Thiess is approximately 13.5% and we are continuing to develop strategies to attract and retain more women in our business.”
With a combination of a skills shortage and major investment in mining and civil projects as well as major infrastructure developments, Thiess presents young women with a broad range of opportunities to develop and enhance their careers.