Though it’s been traditionally male-dominated, the lawn care and landscaping industry is evolving and beginning to include more women than ever before. Currently, women represent a little over 10 percent of all employees in the industry (nationwide) but there is a growing interest in encouraging more females to consider this career path.
This is something that we are incredibly excited about here at Grassperson. For us, it’s not a new idea by any means. In fact, the majority of our corporate office staff are women. But we’re interested in continuing to attract more women to a lawn care and landscaping career—not only in the office but in the field as well.
As a co-owner of the company as well as an account manager, I can personally speak to the opportunities that exist for women seeking landscaping and lawn care jobs. The future is definitely bright for all of us.
As the industry as a whole is beginning to see, women are capable of any of the careers in this industry that men are—and that includes hands-on work in the field. While we don’t have any females on crews right now, we are always looking and would be just as interested in a woman applying for this role as we are a man.
The same characteristics that would make a male a good fit for this type of role would apply to a female. Here are just a few things that we think would attract someone to this type of work.
Though some might be inclined to say that the labor aspect of it might turn some women away, it’s important to remember that it’s not like you are ever on a crew alone. If something is too heavy to lift or push, there are others who can help. That is true of any of our crews’ experiences (whether they are a man or a woman). They work as a team. And we absolutely believe there are certainly women out there who would be fulfilled by this type of work.
I, myself, have been out with our crews working and I know it feels good to put in a good day’s work outdoors so I could identify with how this might be a rewarding career for a woman who is looking to spend more time outdoors in a hands-on role.
We also think it’s important to express that just because you’re a woman does not mean that you should only look for office work in this industry. If you’re drawn to this field because you love the outdoors, then you just might find yourself at home on one of our crews.
Everyone that works at Grassperson is respectful and welcoming and we certainly want women to feel comfortable applying for field positions if that’s where their passions and interests are leading them.
Although account manager roles have traditionally been filled by males, this is another career opportunity that we think women should consider. In fact, women may bring certain characteristics to the position that make them a great fit for this line of work.
Generally speaking, women tend to be detail-oriented, incredibly empathetic, organized, and good at multitasking. As an account manager, connecting with customers and making sure that you’re keeping everyone happy, these are excellent character traits. By nature, women are often very patient and that can be incredibly helpful in this type of role.
At Grassperson, we’d love to see more women in these roles. I can personally attest to the fact that I have never run into an issue with a client being displeased by having a woman as their account manager.
In fact, sometimes it is the woman of the household making the decisions about property maintenance or enhancements and they appreciate working with a female who thinks in a similar way to them. But I also work with many male clients and have never experienced an issue. I bring this point up as I do not want it to be a deterrent to applying for these types of roles.
As we mentioned, we currently have primarily women employed in our office and that includes roles in HR/accounting and customer relations—and these are also vital roles to the success of our company.
In being clear that women should not feel that office work is the only work they can apply for, in no way do we mean to diminish these incredibly valuable roles. If you’re someone who is looking for an office job, there can certainly be wonderful opportunities here, as well.
The main point that we hope to convey is that we are a forward-thinking company and interested in hiring qualified individuals for our lawn care and landscaping jobs regardless of gender. We are sincerely interested in having a diversified mix of employees as we believe that with diversity comes so many strengths.
The last thing that we’d want is for this to come across as a male-bashing article as we highly value our male employees, too. We just recognize that women may have held back from applying for these roles in the past and we’d love for them to reconsider. This is an incredibly exciting time for our industry as it is rapidly expanding and we hope to see many new people become part of that growth—both men and women alike.
We are always looking for team members who show a willingness and desire to learn, regardless of gender. If these opportunities sound appealing to you, we invite you to check out our open positions today.