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In 2023, the number of women employed in the construction industry inched up to around 1.3 million. Women now represent 10.8% of the construction workforce, an increase from 9.3% in 2002. As the industry continues to face a shortage of skilled labor, adding new workers is an important goal. Bringing additional women into the construction labor force represents a potential opportunity for the future. This article examines the roles of women in construction using labor force statistics from the Current Population Survey (CPS).

The Great Recession led to a sharp decline in the number of women working in construction, dropping by nearly 30% to 807,000 by 2010. From 2010 to 2017, the number gradually rose to around 970,000 but remained below the peak of pre-recession levels. In recent years, however, there has been significant growth, with women in construction reaching a record of 1.287 million in 2023.

Currently, women make up 10.8% of the construction workforce. According to the CPS data, most women in the construction industry are employed in occupations such as office and administrative support, management, business and financial operations. Sales and office occupations employed the largest number of women within the construction industry. For example, women accounted for 66% of workers in sales and office occupations, including 406,000 women in office and administrative support, and 31,000 in sales and related occupations in 2023. Additionally, about 511,000 women held roles in management, professional and related occupations, though they only accounted for 18% of all management positions.

Although construction and maintenance occupations account for the largest number of employees in construction and is where additional workers are most needed, women comprised only 4% of such occupations. Additional steps should be taken to attract female workers into these high-demand occupations. Other groups such as production, transportation and material moving occupations, and service occupations employed only around 26,000 female workers.