A group of ten people, made up of seven women and three young immigrants settled in Spain for training, received their Professional Certificate for Auxiliary Operations on Continuous Coatings in Construction after successfully completing 360 hours of technical and practical training.  

This is the culmination of a work training programme spearheaded by Sorigué and the Fundació Laboral de la Construcción (FLC) in Catalonia, which aims to promote equality and the inclusion of women in construction, and boost the level of professionalism in the sector. 

Three of the female participants completed 80 hours of training at Constraula, a Sorigué group company, and one of them has already become an official member of the workforce. The training included working in the metropolitan area urban services brigades and at one of the building sites in Barcelona, with personal mentoring from three professionals within the company and supervision by the FLC.

Xavier Llopis, Director of Urban Spaces in Catalonia at Sorigué, Anna Fornt, Managing Director of the Efebe Group, Carme Ocaña, Head of Strategic Alliances and Fundraising at Fundació Ared, and Lucía López, Managing Director of the Fundació Laboral de la Construcción, presided over the graduation ceremony, which highlighted the need to continue promoting spaces for effective job placement through personalised support.  

This programme in particular included modules such as auxiliary site work, processing and preparation of equipment and materials in masonry work, and application of paint and protective primers, among others, which enabled students to access jobs as painting or masonry assistants. 

Participating organisations 

The Fundació Laboral de la Construcción is a non-profit organisation consisting of the Confederación Nacional de la Construcción (CNC), CCOO del Hábitat and the UGT Federación de Industria, Construcción y Agro (UGT FICA). It has 50 of its own centres and offers over 200 training initiatives designed to boost professionalism in the sector. One of its goals is to increase the presence of women in the construction sector, and proof of its success are the 10,313 women who attended its courses in the last year, an 18.80% increase over the previous year. 

Fundació Ared has worked for over 30 years to integrate highly vulnerable people into society, particularly women from prisons or social services centres. Its initiatives have involved over 14,000 people, and over 4,200 of them have found professional employment. 

Efebé group is part of Papelmatic group and, together with Papelmatic, Disnòrdic and HGS, it works to transform spaces such as schools, offices and nursing homes into healthier and more ergonomic places. It has over 25 years of experience in this work and employs a team of experts in renovation, design, adaptation, equipment and maintenance. 

The Sorigué group, which is composed of over 20 active companies, is a leader in areas such as city services, the water cycle, infrastructure and materials, renewable energy and construction. Its workforce currently includes over 3,500 employees and, with its commitment to sustainable growth, the company strives to integrate women into sectors seen as traditionally masculine, such as construction, and to integrate talent from various vulnerable groups.