Construction workforce slowly diversifies with increase of female workers
LAS VEGAS (KALS) — Amber Reynolds stands pretty in pink, even amongst the construction dust surrounding her.
The hot pink hard hat her ponytail slips through is a stark contrast to the generic white ones her male coworkers sport when out in the field. She’s a division cadence manager (think a liaison between all departments working on one construction project) for the nation’s fifth-largest homebuilder, Taylor Morrison.
“We make sure (a house) feels right. Is the thermostat in the right place? Is there room for artwork for homeowners?” Reynolds said inside a model home in Lake Las Vegas, discussing her role in house design before potential buyers stroll through. “That’s when we can make decisions of, ‘Oh, is this right? Do we want to make a change here?’ You don’t want to do that when it’s painted and dry-walled.”
Reynolds is also the only woman in her department, she says, and it’s not the first time in her over two-decades-long career.
The longtime Las Vegas local got her first construction gig through a temp agency, soon after the birth of her first child at eighteen. She’s since overseen administrative and permitting operations for four different home builders, leading her to renovations of classic Las Vegas Strip hotels and the erection of Nevada’s largest stadium.
“I needed to get to work, you know? I was young, fresh out of high school, had a young baby to take care of,” Reynolds said. “There’s a stigma to it, that it’s a man’s industry, and those of us that are in it are really trying to change that.”
Whether or not the stigma’s changing, the employee makeup is. Taylor Morrison, for one, reports a 185% increase in women filling its construction roles since 2019, and 66% more women have filled these roles in just the past three years.
Though the company boasts a national workforce of 44% made up of women, numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate not even 11% of construction roles were filled by females in 2023, which is not a significant rise from the year prior. They filled just over 9% in 2013.
Data further shows women filled only about 4% of labor positions, but nearly 80% of administrative and office roles in 2023.
Edee Bennett, vice president of purchasing for Taylor Morrison Las Vegas, rose through the ranks too through her 24-year-long career.
“There was a resistance to women in traditional male roles,” Bennett said during a virtual interview Monday, speaking of the statistics. “The overall mindset and the industry attitudes have really shifted and are allowing women more opportunity to come and prove themselves.”
Bennett suggests women considering a career in construction to join networking groups, like Professional Women in Construction, to navigate the diversifying but traditional industry.
As for Reynolds, she acknowledges women like her are working to solve challenges in the industry constantly challenged by growing demand, especially in the Las Vegas valley. She hopes officials like her can help build a new perception.
“Women are just as capable to do what the men are doing,” Reynolds said. “As a woman, that’s our trait, right? We’re organized. We’re attention to detail, and that’s a great trait to have when building a home.”
The National Association of Women in Construction designates March 3 through March 9 as Women In Construction Week.
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