Fortel, A leading supplier of labour to the construction industry has set out a new strategy to increase workforce diversity by 25% by 2025.
At Fortel, minorities already make up the majority, but this doesn’t necessarily make it diverse.
Nearly two-thirds of Fortel’s workforce comes from minority ethnic backgrounds so its diversity drive is focused on getting more women, more disabled people and more people with minority sexual preferences and/or identities (LGBTQ+) into the company.
It will also assess the background of existing employees to determine scope for greater diversity within the 60% of the workforce that is from a minority ethnic background.
Fortel supplies more than 2,000 staff to infrastructure projects with major contractors across the UK. It turned over £117m in 2019.
It has made a five-step pledge towards boosting diversity in its ranks.
To support its goal of increasing workforce diversity by 25% by 2025, it has launched a diversity & inclusion (D&I) training and assessment scheme, set up a D&I steering group and is planning quarterly D&I events. There is also a work placement initiative for people from under-represented demographic groups
Chief operating officer Amar Sandhawalia said: “We have always put great emphasis on the importance of diversity and inclusion. 2020 was a year where calls were made far and wide for progress – from industry associations and business leaders to education bodies and eminent individuals – but we do believe that we are at the start of a change in attitude and culture.
“We want to lead from the front in this and play our part in creating a more diverse talent pool, the impacts of which will be transformative for the industry.”