Sexist trains

A job advertisement, promoted by Sydney Trains via Seek, has triggered confusion after the listing detailed “recruitment is open to women only”.

The organisation has since responded by saying it will change how the advert is worded to better reflect its plan to promote diversity and gender inclusion in the workplace.

The ad, which has since been removed, was for a trainee train driver and specifies the role is only for women.

Speaking to 2GB, Sydney Trains acting chief executive Suzanna Holden told the station gender inequality was rife in the industry, and the job ad was the first in a series of diverse roles that would be advertised in the coming weeks. “We are recruiting wide and broad at the moment,” she said.

“The wording is a little unfortunate, and we are making some changes to the wording.”

Trains have been running in Sydney for more than 100 years, and Ms Holden said that was largely why it had remained a male-dominated industry. Only 18 per cent of drivers are female.

“We (women) are significantly under-represented,” she said.  “It’s (the advert) more around getting gender equality. It’s not specifically to focus on female-only recruitment; that’s certainly not the case.

“This is targeted deliberately at women. But in the next couple of weeks we’re going out with a more broader campaign.”

The idea was to encourage women to apply for jobs they traditionally believed were only for men, she explained.

SOURCE