Electric Co-op Today

The shortage of skilled employees in the electric utility industry is so severe that executives likely will need to fill about half of lineworker and engineering positions within the next five years, according to a recent survey.

“Gaps in the Energy Workforce Pipeline” surveyed five job categories and found that 40 percent to 50 percent of those positions will need to be filled by 2013, with that figure rising to 60 percent in some cases. The jobs surveyed were technicians, non-nuclear plant operators, engineers, pipefitters/pipelayers and lineworkers.

The gaps in the energy labor market are mostly the result of large numbers of baby boomers now reaching retirement age, a trend that cuts across many industries, according to the survey, which was released by the Center for Energy Workforce Development, a consortium of utility associations, including NRECA.

However, the impact is especially pronounced at co-ops, IOUs and munis because the median age of energy workers is 45 years, compared to 40.7 years for workers in the entire labor force, the study said.

Also causing a negative impact is fewer numbers of workers qualified for the positions, which are requiring increasingly sophisticated sets of skills, said Russell Turner, principal, human capital issues at NRECA, and a consortium board member.

“These jobs are not just all muscle anymore,” said Turner, who’s heard anecdotally of applicants lacking even basic math skills.

“Bucket trucks have laptops. These jobs are becoming more complex.”

It seems improbable, but the current economy contains some bright spots for co-ops and other utilities, said Turner.

The study found that losses in retirement plans have slowed the pace of retirements, in effect buying time to address the problem.

Tags: Education and Training, HR, Lineworkers, Trends Reports and Analyses