Firms should be offered a special subsidy to help attract more women into construction, engineering and plumbing, a report has urged.
The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) said recruiting more women into professions normally associated with men would help tackle the "severe" shortage of skilled workers in some parts of the labour market.
An extra subsidy given to companies who take on women could be one way to break down the barriers and help close the 19 per cent pay gap.
EOC chairwoman Julie Mellor said: "Unless we see dramatic action to address them, major skills shortages will continue to blight individual businesses and damage the wider economy."
Research for the EOC revealed there had been no significant increase in the number of women in construction, engineering or plumbing in the last ten years.
Thursday May 06, 2004
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