The Trades Are Hiring, and Ferguson Wants You There: 500+ US Roles

Most LGBTQ+ careers coverage points at the same handful of industries: tech, finance, law, media, all of it clustered in the same handful of cities. Ferguson is hiring somewhere else entirely. The plumbing and HVAC distributor has 516 live roles on myGwork right now, including 41 early-careers positions, and they are in Waterloo, Iowa; Brookshire, Texas; Billings, Montana; Appleton, Wisconsin; Beltsville, Maryland; Geismar, Louisiana.

Six business resource groups, and one that says it out loud

Ferguson runs six associate-led Business Resource Groups, each with an executive sponsor, an elected chair and a leadership team, all open to any associate: BOLD (Black Organization for Leadership and Diversity), EmpowHER, VALOR (veterans and allies), HOLA (Hispanic and Latin American associates), ASCEND (associates navigating disabilities, launched in the last financial year), and Building Pride.

Building Pride's stated purpose, in Ferguson's own words, is to "create a safe, inclusive workplace that empowers LGBTQ+ members and allies to enhance professional growth and achieve organizational goals." That group has run non-binary designation and gender-pronoun campaigns internally and introduced sexual orientation disclosure options in company profiles — practical plumbing, if you will, rather than a banner. Ferguson has also partnered with the Build Out Alliance, which advocates for LGBTQ+ people specifically within the building and construction trades.

The equal opportunity policy names gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation explicitly. Paid parental leave covers both birth and non-birth parents — the clause that decides whether a same-sex couple is treated as a family or as a special case.

Why the trades, and why now

Ferguson has committed to connecting 50,000 young people to skilled trades careers by 2030. It has built 35 Explore The Trades Skills Labs reaching more than 3,500 students, awarded $5 million through the mikeroweWORKS Foundation to over 525 students in a single year, and backs SkillsUSA, the ACE Mentor Program, Tools & Tiaras and the Heavy Metal Summer Experience.

Melissa Hazelwood, Ferguson's Director of Social Impact, puts the logic simply: a strong workforce starts with providing real opportunities, support and clear industry entry points.

For LGBTQ+ jobseekers, the trades have historically been a place you entered cautiously. An employer of 35,000 associates across 1,700+ North American locations, with a named LGBTQ+ resource group and pronoun campaigns already run, changes that calculation.

Where the jobs are

• Distribution centres and pipe yards — Brookshire TX, Waterloo IA, Appleton WI: warehouse associates, equipment operators and CDL delivery drivers
• Counter and inside sales — Billings MT, Lakewood NJ, Beltsville MD: customer-facing roles that turn into long careers
• Outside sales and technical specialisms — utility infrastructure in Pasco WA, industrial PVF in Geismar LA, manual valves in Kingsport TN
• Fabrication and showroom — supervisory and design roles in Tampa FL and beyond
• Remote — proposal, strategy and support roles advertised as fully remote across the US
• Early careers — 41 open early-careers roles, plus the Sales Trainee and Sales Leadership Program

Find your role

Visit Ferguson's partner profile on myGwork

Browse all Ferguson jobs on myGwork

Looking at other employers? browse our full guide to LGBTQ+ inclusive employers by industry and country, or read how RS Group and ABB approach inclusion.

Ferguson is a proud partner of myGwork, the Inclusive Talent Platform.