This White Paper was created in collaboration with NAWC.
The long-term health of the water utility workforce is a perennial challenge, with several factors that may differ substantially depending on geography, population density, local industry, administrative structure, and other factors. While these issues will vary in prominence in individual contexts, there are common underlying causes to the challenges faced by the U.S. water utility sector workforce; these address broader issues of legacy infrastructure, deferred public investment, state policy considerations, and a larger overall conversation about community awareness and priorities regarding utility operations and their importance. Today, a cross-functional group of nonprofits, educational institutions, state actors, and other stakeholders are making headway on the challenge of workforce development through a more holistic approach that underscores the crucial role of water in community health and development.
Bluefield and the National Association of Water Companies (NAWC) interviewed 30 contacts across the water industry, including both publicly and privately owned utilities, as well as nonprofit organizations and educational institutions that work to address workforce challenges in the utility space. Respondents were located across the country in 18 different states. Utility respondents had customer bases ranging between 5,000 and several million for single municipalities and included investor-owned utilities operating in multiple states. These respondents reported having employee counts ranging from as small as 15 people to workforces totaling over 1,000 in headcount. Respondents were asked about their most pressing workforce challenges related to hiring, employee retention, salary and benefits competitiveness, and local considerations, as well as their opinions on what approaches, programming, and partnerships had demonstrated effectiveness in meeting these challenges.
Bluefield also spoke with multiple stakeholders involved with programming to address and counteract utility workforce challenges, including those offered by investor-owned utilities, such as Veolia (Veolia Academy).Also included were grant-funded nonprofits and educational institutions that have taken different approaches to widening and strengthening the pipeline of potential employees for water utility work. Although unique challenges and site-specific circumstances were presented, several common themes and approaches emerged throughout the conversations, forming a set of recommendations for moving forward.
