On Friday Sept 29th Baywork released their long awaited report on water workforce reliability before a gathering of 65 representatives from water utilities, associations and community colleges.
The Bay Area will need over 828 new water professionals in the next three years and there are not enough students in the training pipeline right now the study found. The survey of 43 water and wastewater utilities was conducted by Baywork and research partner Jewish Vocational Services of San Francisco (JVS). It was funded by a grant from the California Workforce Development Board.
The water sector faces severe workforce challenges in the coming years and the report reiterated the important role Baywork plays in bringing multi-sector stakeholders together to work on recruitment, training and placement. “The water industry seems to face difficulty in recruiting, training and retaining skilled employees, especially for small systems,” the report noted.
“Critical to workforce success is sharing what we learn and what we build with one another, across agencies. Baywork plays a key role in bringing us together,” said Elizabeth Toups, Project Manager from JVS, during the opening comments.
CWEA President Debi Lewis from Stantec urges members to get involved and help recruit the next generation. Use our new website CAWaterJobs.org as a resource.
“The Baywork report correlates the impending retirement crisis with an approaching crisis in workforce reliability making these key priorities for the profession and the state. See how you can help,” Debi said.
Authors of the Baywork-JVS workforce report at the Sept. 29th launch event.
Workforce Survey
The survey found three mission critical jobs, which face challenging and immediate shortages: electricians, machinist/mechanics and instrument technicians. Utilities will need at least 828 new workers over the next three years in those categories. They are also among the most difficult to recruit for in the region, agencies told JVS.
The water sector is competing with other adjacent sectors for talent in those roles. High demand, quicker job offers from the private sector and higher wages outside the water profession means fewer workers are available to fill these jobs at water utilities. According to the survey, 92% of utilities are having difficulty hiring electricians and instrumentation techs. There is also difficulty recruiting heavy equipment operators as the construction sector continues to grow. It’s a career track not typically associated with our profession but a mission critical role agencies need to fill.
The easiest job categories to recruit for? Water and Wastewater Treatment Operators. None of the agencies surveyed lack in applicants for operator positions. However, the report warns community colleges in the Bay Area are not graduating enough student operators. Retirements will push the need for water and wastewater operators up to an average 174 per year. Local colleges are currently graduating only about 40 operators per year.
Baywork calls the shortage “an approaching crisis in workforce reliability.” At the meeting, leaders from Baywork and JVS explained the shortage presents a unique opportunity to provide stable, high-paying jobs to local people who need them.
“The impending retirement crisis offers a rare opportunity that could help struggling job seekers acquire the training, experience and connections they need to access family-sustaining employment and stay in the Bay Area,” the report noted.
Baywork and JVS recommend four strategies to address the workforce shortage:
“There is a widespread lack of awareness of the industry and the trades,” the report noted. “This is limiting the pipeline of candidates entering training programs. We recommend expanding current programs for improving awareness among students, parents, teachers and counselors.”
Representatives at the Sept 29th Baywork-JVS event included employers, professional associations and community colleges.
Mission Critical Trades
The findings by Baywork and JVS are alarming. The current number of open vacancies for instrumentation techs is 21% across the 43 agencies surveyed. One-in-five water tech jobs in the Bay Area are unfilled. In addition, over the next 3 years 50% of technicians will retire. In today’s highly automated water systems technicians play a mission critical role in keeping systems running. The report emphasized water agencies should act now.
Attendees at the Sept. 29th roll-out meeting discussed the four strategies in smaller round tables. One theme that cut across all four strategies is the need for water utilities to establish training programs to help workers build knowledge and skills from scratch. Internships, apprenticeships and clear career paths were emphasized as key steps to resolving the workforce shortage.
Attendees from East Bay MUD and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission mentioned during the meeting they are starting apprenticeship programs for electricians to ensure they have enough people for their workforce needs.
The survey also highlighted a large gap in workforce recruitment – out of the 2,276 mission critical water jobs in the Bay Area only 9% are entry level. Water agencies prefer to hire people with experience – known as a journey-level employee. However, people interested in the profession have nowhere to build their years of experience. Students are finding there’s a gap they cannot bridge. They need experience but have nowhere to gain it.
For in-demand careers such as technicians the researchers could not find a single apprenticeship program at a water utility, and across all 43 agencies found only 8 budgeted positions for entry-level techs.
“Agencies should increase entry-level job opportunities by developing more apprenticeship, intern and trainee positions,” the report noted.
There is also a disconnect between training programs for electricians and instrument techs and the water sector’s available postings. For example, most training and apprenticeship activity for electricians is carried out by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW); however, utilities don’t have any apprenticeship openings for electricians. Utilities prefer to hire experienced, journey level electricians. Since most new electricians are finding opportunity in other sectors, water utilities may need to open their own apprenticeship programs to create a future pipeline of electricians.
In addition, the report found agencies need to do a better job of onboarding new employees by creating “mentorship and job shadowing” programs to ensure new employees have a structured program for learning the knowledge and skills they’ll need to succeed.
The Opportunity to Provide Stable Employment
During the September meeting and round-table discussions many attendees pointed to the opportunity to recruit and train a new, diverse water workforce. Several presenters and attendees emphasized many of the job opportunities should go to people from local communities who need them. In many cases some communities have not previously had access to these high-paying and stable jobs. As JVS noted, water careers are “family-sustaining.”
They found journey-level careers in water are stable, well paid and come with good benefits. Electricians and instrumentation techs can expect to earn $79-$96,000/year, which is a slightly higher average than operator positions.
One of the case studies highlighted was the SFPUC’s partnership with John O’Connell High School in Downtown San Francisco. The utility and high school work together on a Construction and Environmental Technology career program that can lead to jobs at the utility.
“The [John O’Connell] program offers relevant courses, internships at local agencies, linkages to community colleges and critical job readiness support from JVS,” the case study noted.
Helping high school students discover the great opportunities available in the water sector and laying out a clear career path were seen as critical to solving the workforce crisis. Furthermore, supporting them with a living wage while they learn is important to helping people who struggle to get into a career.
“Agencies need to offer more grants and scholarships for students pursuing trades training,” presenters said. “Pre-apprenticeship programs can also increase the quality and quantity of apprentice candidates.”
Workforce experts from JVS also noted it is important for someone to be there each step of the way assisting young, new applicants through the utility employment process. It can be daunting. They’ll need help applying to schools and help getting ready for the employment process. They’ll need skills in writing resumes and interviewing and may need help preparing for complicated civil service exams.
What CWEA is Doing
In 2016 CWEA, the California-Nevada section of AWWA and Baywork started a new water careers website called CAWaterJobs.org. The site provides basic information on the 9 mission critical career paths, salary information, career interviews and certification information. It’s open and promoted to the public.
CWEA and our partners are continuing to expand the public outreach and we encourage you to let a hard-working and passionate young person know water is a fantastic career. Let them know about your career path and what you like about the profession. Encourage young people to work for water and send them to CAWaterJobs.org and post your love for the water profession on social media using the hash-tag #workforwater.
Have ideas for recruiting the next generation of water pros? Leave your ideas in the comments below…
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