Nontraditional Employment for Women

Back to overview

For over 40 years, NEW has been a groundbreaking workforce development program that works for women and for New York City. Free to participants, NEW’s training programs give women the skills and knowledge they need to start careers as union tradeswomen in the construction, energy, transportation, and facilities management industries.

Videos from Nontraditional Employment for Women

Signature Project Partners

Learn More About This Video

Nontraditional Employment for Women 02:33 • Community

Women have played key roles on some of the biggest NYC architectural projects in recent memory.

Signature Project Partners

Get Involved

Founded in 1978, NEW is a sector-based workforce development program that prepares women for careers in the construction, transportation, energy, and facilities maintenance industries. NEW focuses on skilled, unionized jobs in the trades with starting wages averaging $17 per hour, benefits, and a path to higher-wage employment. NEW primarily serves low-income minority women from all five boroughs in New York City. These careers enable NEW graduates to provide a secure future for themselves and their families.

The number of women construction workers in New York City has grown substantially as a result of a coordinated effort between NEW, labor unions, contractors, and government. More than 1,300 NEW graduates have found work as electricians, carpenters, plumbers, painters, ironworkers, operating engineers, and sheet metal workers since 2005.