At this year’s BIC Summit in Canberra, Volvo’s Sarah Forbes was on a panel that discussed creative ways of making the bus and coach industry more accessible for women and younger people.
There’s no hiding what the major talking points in the bus and coach industry currently are. As one of the many speakers who presented at another jam-packed two-day Bus Industry Confederation (BIC) Summit in March, Volvo Bus’s director of e-mobility, connected services and partnerships, Sarah Forbes, discussed exactly what she heard at Canberra’s Hotel Realm.
“At the last few BIC Summits, a lot of conversations have been dominated by the zero-emissions transition,” Forbes told ABC. “The issue has really emerged recently, and in 2023 it’s continuing to go full steam ahead with that electric transition discussion.
“At this year’s Summit, it was about more than just the bus, as it also looked into other issues like financial structures, how you prepare your staff for electric operations and other broader conversations.”
Yet Forbes was part of a more unique discussion in the afternoon session of the first day.
As part of a panel facilitated by BIC executive director Roz Chivers, Forbes discussed current challenges facing women in industry as well as looking at ways to attract, retain and promote the emerging workforce.
Forbes was part of a full panel, which also involved Transdev Jon Holland managing director Rachel Spencer and Red Bus Services business services manager Leanne Griffiths among other women in the industry.
Forbes says she was nervous but excited to be part of her first BIC Summit panel alongside some respected industry colleagues.
“I was really excited to sit beside some respected and prominent women in the industry who are well regarded,” Forbes says. “It’s an honour to have been asked to sit with them and talk more broadly as an all-female panel, it was such a unique session for the Summit.
“It was really interesting hearing from women from different parts of the industry, such as manufacturers, suppliers, operators and drivers.”
At the panel session, Forbes used her time to speak about Volvo’s strategic vision that focuses on increasing equity, inclusion and diversity.
The global brand has a target to have 35 per cent of its workforce be made up of female workers before 2030, including in management or executive roles at Volvo by that time. Currently, the Australian Volvo Bus management team has achieved the 50 per cent female employment benchmark.
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| Volvo’s Sarah Forbes |
She clarified the difference between equality and equity. Forbes says equality assumes everyone is starting from the same point, whereas Volvo focuses on equity, which stresses that each person has different circumstances that requires a variety of resources to reach equal outcomes.
“Equity is important when considering issues like the gender pay gap and that women often leave the workforce to be primary care givers,” Forbes says.
“In order to attract them into or back into the industry, businesses need to recognise that not everyone starts from the same spot. How do you create those opportunities?”
Forbes says the women in industry conversation relating to equity has evolved in the past year. Due to the pandemic, changes to flexible working scenarios and reduced travel has provided great opportunities for some women to get more involved in the industry.
Forbes says that businesses must navigate this changing workplace expectation as well as conduct their usual business, which is no small feat.
“Currently we have an industry average age of people in their 50s,” Forbes says. “Now is a unique time to figure out how to get the younger population interested in coming into the industry, particularly when you consider the drastic industry change coming with the zero-emissions transition.”
Forbes has some simple ideas to help improve access for more women and to allow young people to excel in the industry. She says businesses should take a moment to brainstorm initiatives that tackle the shortcomings in the current ecosystem.
For example, she says that working parents in the industry get four weeks of annual leave, but their school aged children might have six weeks of holidays, meaning it’s impractical for parents (and women in particular) to thrive in the professional environment.
“It’s a hard topic to discuss as you can’t change the world in a day,” Forbes says. “If possible, the question is how do you create flexibility in a workshop environment?”
At the Summit, Forbes said there’s no single new idea to combat this.
While the zero-emissions transition remains a main priority for governments and public transport organisations who are introducing transition plans, Forbes also wants them to discuss ways to entice more workers into the industry.
She says there are some easy solutions to consider. Some smaller practical steps include giving offices a facelift by adding plants and evolving workplace décor to provide inviting spaces that cater for everyone so that they all want to work in the workplace.
Forbes says this is all part of solutions that the bus industry could initiate themselves.
Traditionally, she says the bus industry has inadvertently advertised to itself, meaning it struggles to attract new people from outside of family ties and circles.
Forbes challenges businesses to consider how to approach young people in school and encourage them to consider interesting careers such as a transition director at a bus operator as an exciting future path to head down.
“I’d like for the bus industry to think creatively,” Forbes says. “We have so much opportunity to lead the conversation on diversity and inclusion.
“The general public don’t know what they could do with a bus career, so we should shout from the rooftops how great the industry is, how inclusive it is and the opportunities everyone has when they enter it.”