Celebrating Pride Month: A Conversation with Shinya Masubuchi

Shinya was born and raised near Tokyo, Japan and his ancestry includes ties to Japan and Okinawa. He earned a degree in architectural engineering from Tokai University in Japan in 2000 and also worked for an architectural firm there from 1997 to 2000. 

Shinya later moved to the U.S. in 2000, initially to study social work. He spent five years as a social worker before returning to his first passion – civil construction. 

While in San Francisco, he completed his diverse educational background in 2014 by earning a master’s degree in earthquake structural engineering from San Francisco State University. 

Q: Why do you celebrate Pride Month? 

A: When I think about my identity, besides being Japanese, I’m a gay man. It’s a part of me. This is the first company I’ve been with that has celebrated Pride Month; I’ve never experienced that before. Before, I always had a filter and was protecting myself, but at this company, I feel like I can be myself and be comfortable. At McCarthy, I feel very supported, and I can see they care about their employees and their individualism. They try to create an environment where everyone can be comfortable to work. 

Q: Why is Pride Month important to you? 

A: To me, it’s for everyone to see how important it is. It’s not only for the LGBTQ+ people, it’s for all the minorities. It’s a diverse point of view, to be able to celebrate like we do some of the other heritage months. I saw some discrimination when I was working in Japan, and I wasn’t comfortable there. I was open about my sexuality all the time in Japan; the culture in Japan is where they don’t accept it, but they don’t reject it. I always wanted to go to a different country, so I moved here. 

Q: Tell me how you ended up working for McCarthy. 

A: I always wanted to work here because one of the managers I used to work with was with McCarthy for 25 years. He always talked about what a good company it was and suggested to me to go for it. I saw a position open for a senior scheduler. Talent Acquisition Manager Tim Lewis found me through LinkedIn and reached out and we had a conversation for about an hour and a half. We talked about my experience and later I interviewed and got the job.  

Q: Can you talk about your role at McCarthy and your thoughts on the company culture? 

A: I’m scheduling manager for San Francisco Bay area. Right now, I’m involved in a San Francisco State University project, one with IQHQ life science company, and also a San Francisco airport project. 

I go to different jobsites and do walk-throughs where I talk to superintendents and project managers to see what is needed in terms of scheduling. Then we adjust schedules to meet target completion dates. I really like being at the jobsites, so I try to go there as often as possible, always checking in with the project team members. 

I could see myself staying here for a long time because I think McCarthy has so much support for diversity, which I really appreciate. I didn’t have that at previous companies where I worked. 

Q: You have a degree in earthquake structural engineering. How does that relate to your current work and the importance of what McCarthy does in California, a prime location of seismic activity? 

A: We have so many retrofit projects in San Francisco where I’m working on the schedule. It helps me with the schedule for sure, but also to understand the foundation development, soil conditions and things like that. 

Q: Are there other things you enjoy about working for McCarthy? 

A: My passion is giving back to the community and McCarthy does a lot of essential construction building. That fits the passions I have, so that’s another reason I had wanted to work for McCarthy for a long time before I eventually got here. Right now, one of my projects is at my alma mater, San Francisco State. I saw my professor the other day and he was like “Oh, you’re back here again.” I plan on reaching out to San Francisco State and the community college to have their students tour the jobsite. We want to build up McCarthy's recruitment in this area because when I was a student there, I felt like I didn’t have enough information about local construction companies. Now, I can reach out and give them more information about us and what we do, to help their career paths. 

Pride Month is dedicated to celebration and commemoration of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pride. Pride Month began after the Stonewall riots and protests in 1969.