The construction industry has a perception problem, Pomerleau CEO says

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Fifty-six per cent of Canadians would recommend working in the construction industry to their friends and family, according to survey.

And 55 per cent believe the construction industry is “attractive” to young people.

These findings are from a Léger survey of 2,000 Canadians conducted from July 18 to August 2. It was commissioned by the Montreal-based construction company Pomerleau.

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With major labour needs in the construction industry — and retirements exacerbating that — the company wanted to know people’s perception of the industry to get an idea of ​​how to attract the best candidates.

“We expected it to be quite low. But now, barely half recommend it. So what this tells us is that people have a poor perception of the industry, probably a perception that is rooted in the past,” Philippe Adam, president and CEO of Pomerleau, said in an interview.

The statistics are surprising since, in the same breath, 74 per cent of people who responded to the survey said they believe construction offers competitive salaries and benefits.

The industry is not just about workers, but also engineers and employees in innovation, law, and finance, Adam said.

Construction also suffers from a perception problem in other aspects, Adam said. Construction goes beyond orange cones and has innovated in recent years, he said.

“It is an intellectually very stimulating profession, when we talk about major infrastructure projects: a train, a hospital or the roof of the Olympic Stadium. It is technically very complicated, but intellectually stimulating.”

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Women in construction

Fifty-six per cent of respondents to the survey said they believe it is difficult for women to work in the construction industry.

Adam said that with efforts made by the Commission de la construction du Québec and stakeholders in the field to encourage women to enter and stay in the industry, “it’s going in the right direction.”

“The profession has become more and more modern,” he said. “You don’t necessarily need to be physically strong to work on a construction site; that’s not how construction works anymore.”

Other perceptions to combat

Less than half — 49 per cent — of respondents said they believe the construction industry is trustworthy and 35 per cent believe it respects public funds.

The survey was conducted among all Canadians, so the aftermath of the Charbonneau Commission does not fully explain the perception, Adam said; the responses “are quite similar” in the other provinces.

“In terms of being respectful of public funds, when it exceeds the deadlines of the schedule, that’s when everyone loses money, including the manufacturer. Our goal is certainly to respect budgets, to respect deadlines, because when it’s the opposite, when we don’t respect deadlines, the profit margins decrease,” he said.

Online surveys do not have a margin of error.

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