Because it is a simple action that managed to make a change in the macho culture of Peru, using a medium of one of the most traditional direct ads in the world, the ¨Classified ads¨.

The macho culture in Peru, as in many other Latin American countries, is still very present. That is why all the professions associated with CONSTRUCTION continue to be perceived by most as something exclusive to men.

Within this context, Sodimac and Maestro, the two biggest construction retailers in Perú realized that even though a quarter of their sales were purchased by professional women, only 11% of all the construction job offers in newpapers include women.

Note: In Spanish, construction job titles are mostly written in masculine, finishing in “O”, like “CARPINTERO” (carpenter) or “INGENIERO” (engineer).

The challenge was big. How could two retail brands change something that was exposed daily in the country's newspapers?

How could we give exposure to all those women builders that exist in the country and who compete unevenly for job options.

To change this, Sodimac and Maestro lobbied with two of the most important newspapers in Perú, to convince them to make a change in this macho culture of the country.

Both newspapers agreed to add the letter ¨A¨ to each job title of their ad recruiting creation platforms.

This extra character means that every recruiting ad published will apply for both genders grammatically, making them more inclusive.

It’s important to highlight that newspapers charge for each character printed on the job offer.

But this (A) will never be charged to the advertiser.

We communicated this change through a press campaign.

The spokeswomen for this action were none other than our professionals and construction specialists.

The fact that the data showed us 26.8% of Sodimac Constructor's and 24.6% of Maestro's total sales were made by women, confirmed something that we already suspected, that there are more and more women working in the construction industry.

So when we compared this data with the number of job offers that appeared in the main Peruvian newspapers for women dedicated to the construction industry, we realized that there was a great difference and disparity compared to men.

Given this, we began intense conversations with the two main newspapers in the country to achieve a change that would balance the scale.

Our goal was that both a male or female carpenter, for example, had the same opportunity to be considered for a job.

We finally achieved both newspapers to agree to add the letter ¨A¨ to each job title of their ad-recruiting creation platforms.

This extra character means that every recruiting ad published will apply for both genders grammatically, making them more inclusive.

It’s important to highlight that newspapers charge for each character printed on the job offer.

But this (A) will never be charged to the advertiser.

We communicated this change through a press campaign and the spokeswomen for this action were none other than our professionals and construction specialists.

One year after this small change, the data has shown that the hiring of female professional members of both home depots has increased by an average of 11%, showing that little by little the macho behavior of the country is changing.

Both brands seek to provide the best tools and solutions to professionals dedicated to the construction industry, regardless of their gender.