On International Women’s Day here at Westminster Tool, we’re revisiting all the reasons why women are making major impacts in the manufacturing industry. Today we celebrate all the women at our facility and all those joining the industry for the first time by making a pledge to sustaining a culture of inclusion.
We’re proud to share that our facility is over 35% women, with women making up 50% of our leadership team, but there’s still a long way to go. While women make up almost half of the American workforce, fewer than 30% work in manufacturing, and fewer than 10% in machine shops.
Studies show that gender diversity is directly tied to more innovation, more creativity, and better retention. Pair this benefit with the need to overcome skilled labor shortages and you find that companies cannot afford not to strive for diversity in the workplace.
It starts with company culture.
Westminster Tool dedicated the last 10 years to creating a positive culture welcoming to all, and in that time we found the demographics and dynamic of our team completely shift. The goal is to make our company a place everyone wants to work at, regardless of your skills, background, gender or ethnicity. We’re dedicating the next 10 years to offering even more leadership and education opportunities to our team, as well as encouraging young women in our community to pursue manufacturing careers.
To celebrate, members from our team are sharing their stories with high school students this month at Quinebaug Valley Community College.
