2019 Water Infrastructure Workforce Report | Survey of Oregon and Washington Water Utilities
Water, wastewater, and stormwater utilities are the backbone of our healthy and prosperous communities. Water utilities ensure households have access to safe and clean water, and support economic development through stable and cost-effective services. These utilities have often been so successful that their success is taken for granted and we rarely see or hear about their challenges. But a growing concern has emerged about the long-term sustainability of the workforce that make these utilities function. A large portion of the workforce is nearing retirement just as advances in technology and accelerating climatic change are bringing up new and more sophisticated challenges. A nimble and adaptive workforce provides the human capital to respond to new and emerging challenges and help the organization adapt to a changing environment. To explore these concerns, a team of researchers from Portland State University (PSU), Willamette Partnership, and the Center for Sustainable Infrastructure (CSI) conducted a survey of Oregon and Washington utilities exploring workforce dynamics. This report documents the findings from over 230 responses exploring utility attitudes about the state of their workforce, needs for the future, and interest in possible tools to address workforce challenges.
Read the report summary “2019 Pacific Northwest Water Infrastructure Workforce Report”
