Blog

How to recruit more women into the construction industry

By MJ MacDonald

When I was a recent graduate of mechanical engineering from Technical University of Nova Scotia in 1984, I was hired by Black and McDonald. I was thrilled to get my first real job — especially as a recession was in full force. The leadership team at Black and McDonald were incredible and very supportive. I was the first female engineer they had hired. Ever.
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Rate of suicide more than twice as high in construction industry than general population, finds U.S. report

By MJ MacDonald

At industry event in the fall of 2021, during COVID, I was sitting at a table with a union leader who told me he personally knew of six people who had died by suicide in the past year in the construction sector. He said it was a real wakeup call for him that something needed to be done. I couldn’t agree more.
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Conflict on the construction site is a safety concern

By MJ MacDonald

A construction site is no stranger to conflict: someone took someone else’s tape measure without asking for the tenth time; another person made a crack about a colleague’s work ethic; a sub challenges the superintendent’s orders; a super continuously assigns an undesirable, menial task to worker who is not happy about it. And the list goes on.
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