Multiplex builds careers and skylines

After earning a degree in civil engineering in her native country Iran, and a master’s at the University of Toronto, Banafsheh Tabibzadeh was advised that a consulting company would be the best place for a young woman to launch a career in engineering. But a guest lecturer from the Toronto-based construction management firm Multiplex Construction Canada changed that perception.

“What really made me comfortable and happy with Multiplex is that they really advocate for and support women in construction,” says Tabibzadeh, a project coordinator at Multiplex. “My team is super supportive. There’s no difference between men and women. They give you the same opportunity as the male employees.”

Tabibzadeh currently works on site, some days in a hard hat and safety boots, at a 541,000 square foot residential complex comprising townhouses and two, 10-storey condo towers in the Toronto suburb of Oakville. “Construction is very fast paced,” she says. “It’s challenging. It really shows your capabilities to come up with solutions very quickly because sometimes there is no time to waste.”

Multiplex is a global construction management firm founded in Australia in 1962 and established its Canadian subsidiary in 2011. Since then, Multiplex has played a significant role in transforming the urban landscape of the Greater Toronto Hamilton Area. The Oakville project is one of nearly three dozen projects the company has built in Canada, worth over $1 billion.

To date, Multiplex has sourced its candidates through various methods: direct applicants to their Careers Page, Referrals and from within their global Multiplex network of employees. Currently, they also partner with select colleges and universities within the GTA such as occupational health and safety students from Toronto Metropolitan University and building innovation management students from George Brown College.

“We typically hire third – and/or fourth-year students to do a co-op term with us where they get the practical experience they require,” says Anisa Yusuf, vice-president, human resources. “If they perform well and they are the right fit for the company, we’ll bring them back for their second term or hire them if they are graduating. They become familiar with Multiplex and get to know the culture, and if it’s the right fit for them as well.”

Under the current leadership, the culture of the company has been transformed over the past three years, she adds. “It’s a more transparent and collaborative environment,” Yusuf says, “We don’t operate with a top-down approach. We are collaborative. Everyone is heard and encouraged to bring forward their ideas.”

The company is also investing in professional development and career planning. “We’ve developed career kits for our field management staff at every level from site administrator up to general superintendent,” she says. “The kits outline what the career path looks like for each position, what you need to accomplish in terms of experience and the competencies you need to in order to get to the next level.”

Apart from offering the opportunity to move vertically, up the proverbial corporate ladder, employees can also consider the possibility of working abroad, in Australia where Multiplex serves 6 regions, or the United Kingdom where the company also operates.

“Multiplex is a global company,” says Yusuf. “We encourage our employees to express their interest in working in other regions and have a global management system that we use to track talent. We’ve had people go to the UK to grow their careers. That’s an attractive option for someone who wants to live abroad for a while and obtain international experience.”

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Greater Toronto’s Top Employers winners, published December 9, 2022 in The Globe and Mail. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.