International Women’s Day is celebrated today, but how is the UK’s automotive industry faring in the gender equality fight?
We polled some of the UK’s leading female movers and shakers for their views on the opportunities and obstacles faced by women working across the car industry. We’re also sharing figures from the Government’s gender pay gap database, to see how a variety of Britain’s biggest automotive employers measure up.
While there has been change, there’s no doubt the automotive industry is lagging behind other sectors as it seeks to redress its gender imbalance. Women have made inroads in marketing and sales, but they are less visible in engineering and manufacturing roles. An industry-wide report published by Deloitte just before the pandemic in 2020 showed only 20 per cent of the workforce and fewer than 10 per cent of executives identify as female.
Society of Motor Manufacturer and Traders (SMMT) chief executive Mike Hawes told us: “Across the industry, companies have various initiatives to address imbalances and attract new talent in all areas of…
