A pink Kobelco excavator will be put to work in Melbourne to invite more women into the construction industry
The excavator was purchased by Starbuck Excavation that will also operator the machine, in a bid to raise awareness about the lack of diversity across the industry and show it’s not just for ‘the blokes’.
Starbuck Excavation is a third-generation family earthmoving business that has earned its stripes throughout the industry while boasting a workforce comprised of many female employees.
The business purchased the Kobelco SK135SR from Kobelco & Melbourne Tractors brand new and will add the machine to its fleet.
“For me personally it’s a conversation starter to show Starbuck Group is a supportive workplace; somewhere in 10 years I’ll be proud that my daughter will walk onto a worksite and be seen for her abilities and skills rather than anything else,” director Jimmy Starbuck says.
“A pink machine and that goal being in the forefront of my mind might just make that happen.”
Among the women employed at the business is chief operating officer Aurelia Pirvu, who recognised that there needs to be more of a conversation about why the earthmoving and construction sectors have typically been male-dominated industries.
“The reason behind purchasing this digger in pink is to invite more women into the industry. We are lucky in Australia that women are already part of the construction industry, but for people outside of the industry, we’d like to use it as conversation piece to highlight that women can operate machinery, that women can have big careers in the field, that the new generation knows that there is a future in construction,” Pirvu says.
“With this digger, we obviously don’t expect things to change overnight, the intention behind it is to bring awareness and have people who don’t know much about the industry who could potentially be a great fit, spot the machine in traffic or on a worksite and from there get curious, Google it and to hopefully be encouraged to enter the field.”
While the SK135SR remains one of the newer machines in the Starbuck Excavation fleet, plans are already in motion to add another pink Kobelco machine later this year.