Program to start in the Patrick terminals subsidiary with a view to boosting diversity.
Stevedore Patrick will be the initial host of parent Asciano’s new management cadetship program for women.
The two-year Women in Logistics program, dubbed WILpower, aims to provide women with the opportunity to develop the skills required for operational leadership roles.
Initially, eight female cadets are to be recruited next month, with the diversity promotion program to begin at the start of next year.
Patrick’s container terminal operations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth will gain two recruits each.
The successful candidates will rotate through four operational roles in Patrick’s terminals and logistics division, in roles in yard, shift, production and logistics management.
“Diversity within our stevedoring operations is one of our greatest challenges, with a long history of male dominated workplaces and an ongoing shortage of female candidates applying to join our workforce,” Asciano director of human resources Alex Badenoch says.
“We believe that starting to address this issue in our stevedoring workforce will be a positive catalyst to encourage greater representation of women in operational management roles across all areas of our business.”
She adds that while Asciano operates in a traditionally male dominated industry, “we are committed to developing an inclusive and diverse place to work, with a particular focus on supporting the representation of women at all levels of our organisation. This program is aimed at building a diverse succession candidate pool”.
Cadets will be supported to complete a graduate diploma in logistics in addition to a Certificate IV in Management.
Potential candidates can learn more about the program here.