Female workers in WW1 played a crucial role, with millions of men away from home, women filled manufacturing and agricultural positions on the home front. This meant there were great changes in the UK to the number of women in the workforce including at the Royal Worcester factory. Unfortunately it is hard to say for certain how many women were employed on the manufacturing side of the business. The surviving wage books only record weekly totals and workers were paid by the piece, not a weekly salary, however, we do have the names and details of the office workers during this time period.
In 1914 there were 15 men and only 4 women employed in the offices. The number of female workers in WW1 rose to 7 women and 13 men by 1918.
They included Marion Cooper who started in the wages office in June 1916 aged 14 (her father was also in the Wages Office), Miss M Lewis who started in October 1916 as an invoice clerk, and Jeannie Izatt who taken was taken on in January 1918 aged 20 as a typist.
Most of the women taken on during the war stayed in employment at Royal Worcester well into the 1920s and some for the rest of their working lives.