The Construction Record Podcast™ – Episode 316: Hiring and retaining youth for construction careers

On this episode of The Construction Record Podcast™, digital media editor Warren Frey speaks with Dr. Jon Callegher about attracting young people to the construction industry and then retaining them once they enter the field. Callegher, the executive director of the Job Talks research and media agency, spoke at the recent British Columbia Construction Safety Alliance Health and Safety Conference about what younger workers are looking for in a career path and how many of the traits regarded as "university-ready" are also well suited to the skilled trades. He added men and women have to be marketed to in different ways and that companies need to precisely target young workers instead of sending out large-scale advertising campaigns that may not reach them. We also have the latest headlines from the Daily Commercial News and the Journal of Commerce including a story from Angela Gismondi about an extension to an existing building at the University of Toronto's Innis College as well as columns from John Clinkard about the possibly costly implications for new homes within Ottawa's emissions reduction plan, and John Bleasby's Inside Innovation column which looks at how artificial intelligence adoption in  the construction industry is in his words, "all about the data." From the west we have stories from Shannon Moneo about how two years after a devastating fire that wiped out the town of Lytton in British Columbia, the rebuilding effort is stuck in limbo with no construction as yet started and in Edmonton the long-delayed $1.8-billion, 13-kilometre low-floor line Valley Line Southeast LRT will open for passenger service on November 4th. You can listen to The Construction Record on the Daily Commercial News and Journal of Commerce websites as well as on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music's podcast section. Our previous interviews with our new Journal of Commerce staff writer Sarah Rowland and WorkSafeBC's Trudi Rondou are here. Thanks for listening. DCN-JOC News Services Innis College addition 'surgical,' connecting old and new buildings Inside Innovation: AI adoption in construction is all about the data Ottawa's Emission Reduction Plan Has Costly Implications for New Homes Lytton rebuild in limbo over two years after devastating fire Edmonton announces Valley Line Southeast LRT to open Nov. 4