Successful BMD Ready pilot program launches young people’s careers
Four young people have successfully completed the inaugural BMD Ready program, designed to give our next-generation labour force a foot in the door to a rewarding career in civil construction.
Delivered in partnership with Construction Skills Queensland and Civil Train, participants of the program spent the first two weeks in a classroom setting learning life skills across nutrition, alcohol awareness, hydration, and sleep hygiene. Then, they headed out to our infrastructure project sites across South East Queensland for three weeks of structured workplace learning.
Learning from experienced BMD leaders and site teams, participants were safely guided through a range of key civil construction labour tasks and at the end of the program, gained full-time employment.
BMD Urban National General Manager David Moody said the BMD Ready program was designed to provide young people with an encouraging and supportive entry point to the civil construction industry, showing them the many great career pathways the industry has to offer.
“At BMD, we’re passionate about paving pathways for the next generation to join the civil construction industry; it’s a burgeoning industry with lots of different roles out there, and with hard work, the sky is the limit really,” Mr Moody said.
“We’re providing opportunities like BMD Ready so that the next generation can have a go and see if it’s right for them, plus, it’s actively working to fill the significant labour shortage the industry is experiencing.
“Infrastructure Australia says there’s a deficit of about 131,000 full-time trade workers and labourers across Australia, so we’re not waiting idly by, we’re making civil construction accessible, attractive, and rewarding for young people.”
Each participant in the BMD Ready program said they enjoyed having exposure to different crews and have their sights set on progressing their futures.
BMD Ready participant AJ said, “One of the highlights was physically working; I’m proud that I made it through and I’m able to work, and I want to go as high as I can, as far as I can.”
Tyson said, “I like learning new things and the site that we’ve been on, because it’s only just started, I’ve been interested in getting into the big earthworks – the trucks, moxies and excavators – they interest me a lot.”
Jensen said, “I’ve been around a lot of crews, seen pipe laying, concreting, maintenance crews, all of that sort of stuff, and have been talking to the machine operators a lot. It looks like you get to play on toys in a sandpit so it interests me – I think machinery is probably the future for me.”
Matthew said, “I’ve enjoyed meeting new people and getting to work in a brand-new industry and for my career long-term, I eventually hope to get into the machines or go up as high as I can.”
At BMD, we’re committed to powering our people to create legacies, and can’t wait to watch these new BMD employees create theirs. If you’re interested in joining the BMD family, browse our current vacancies here.
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