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This document is a combined top-level summary of the Structural Analysis of Gender Diversity and Minority Participation in the Aotearoa/New Zealand Trades Industry and Cahoots Strategy Report.

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May 2026

Overview

The Trades Industry Equity Problem

Aotearoa’s construction and infrastructure sectors are large, growing, and under sustained workforce pressure, but on-the-tools trade participation remains radically gender-segregated.[3] Women are close to half of the general workforce, but a small minority in construction overall and an even smaller minority in trade roles (~3%).[3]

Many current initiatives in this area focus on helping women and gender-diverse people endure a system not built for them by providing resources and mentorship. These supports matter, but the evidence suggests the decisive barrier to women’s participation is not motivation or resilience, it is workplace conditions: psychosocial safety, facilities, equipment, supervision, and accountability. Without changing those conditions, such programmes risk producing more churn.[9][5]

The evidence is consistent on what drives this gap:

• Psychosocial safety: Sexism, bullying, harassment, and weak accountability pathways.[4]
• Workplace environment: Amenities, PPE fit, and site infrastructure are not designed for diverse bodies and lives.[4]
• Retention: Apprentice retention is poor and the largest drivers of withdrawal are employment factors (workplace culture, quality of on-job training, employer attitude, and site relationships).[5]

This is an equity and workforce resilience issue. If the sector keeps drawing from a demographic pool that excludes women, it constrains workforce supply, capability, and innovation.[3]

Cahoots’ Response

Cahoots exists because women and gender minorities face systemic exclusion in practical spaces, from DIY to trades, and because changing who gets to build requires transforming both capability and conditions.

Our strategy is to operate an integrated ecosystem:

• Cahoots Workshop: A protected space providing community empowerment and skill development. The Workshop continues to grow a large base of empowered, skilled women and gender minorities which provides visibility, attraction, and also provides a talent pipeline for the trades (inc. Cahoots Tradies).
• Cahoots Tradies: A social enterprise delivering trade services by women and gender minority tradies. Tradies is a protected organisation exclusively for women and gender minorities, it is culture-first, trauma-informed, and provides low-barrier employment. Cahoots Tradies reinforces the visible normalisation mechanism of Cahoots Workshop and contributes to attraction of new members. Tradies creates a model for inclusion and also generates revenue to sustain the Cahoots Ecosystem.

This ecosystem is designed to provide exposure and training, mentoring/peer networks, along with pre-trade, apprenticeship, and employment opportunities within a trauma-informed, inclusive environment.[5][7] The Cahoots Ecosystem addresses the systemic failings of the trades industry at every level.

Collaboration and Alignment

Cahoots developed this evidence-informed strategy in collaboration with BCITO; conducting a thorough desk review of previous interventions and a strategic plan, aligning our mahi with sector training realities and workforce goals.[7]

Cahoots’ strategy has also been strengthened through Project Jumpstart, delivered by the Centre for Social Innovation and funded by J R McKenzie Trust. This strategic development focused on market validation, readiness, and staged implementation for the social enterprise. J R McKenzie continue to work with Cahoots towards building the Cahoots Ecosystem.[8]