Public Power - November 2008 - (Page 10)

PERSPECTIVE Meeting the Challenge of Boomer Retirements By Mark Crisson • President & CEO • American Public Power Association s 2008 survey of public power utility work force needs, published in September, shows that utilities are taking steps to deal with the expected retirement of baby boomers who have spent decades in the industry. Forty-five percent of public power utilities surveyed by APPA reported that more than 20 percent of their work force is eligible to retire in the next five years. As they look ahead to upcoming retirements, utilities believe they will have the greatest difficulty replacing skilled trade workers. Supervisors and engineers are the next greatest areas of concern. Two-thirds of utilities responding to the APPA survey expect the highest number of retirements in the skilled trades positions in the next five years and they expect those jobs will be the hardest to fill. The 2008 work force survey revealed a positive trend in one key respect: 26 percent of utilities have a plan for meeting future work force needs. This is up from 18 percent in APPA’s 2005 survey. However, only 14 percent of utilities responding to the APPA survey have a formal plan for identifying and developing candidates for senior management positions. That is a drop from 24 percent in 2002 and 16 percent in 2005. That drop may be an indicator of another trend identified in the 2008 work force survey: the average longevity of employees is lower now than was the case three years ago. In 2008, 12 percent of respondents reported that the average years of service for employees was less than 10 years. This is up from 2 percent in 2005. In 2008, 18 percent of the utili10 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2008 APPA’ ties reported having a work force with an average of 20 or more years of service. That is down from 36 percent in 2005. These survey data indicate that boomer retirements have begun and utilities are transitioning to a new and younger work force. APPA has made work force issues a priority in its annual work plans for the past several years. On Nov. 10-11, the association will hold a National Work Force Summit in Indianapolis. Utility CEOs, senior managers and human resource professionals will meet to examine strategies for dealing with the major transition that is already under way. Eleven experts on public power work force issues will lead discussions on cultivating new skilled workers and leaders, building a high performance organization, developing processes for capturing institutional knowledge before long-term employees retire and working with educational institutions to train and recruit new talent. This summit is a key part of APPA’s 2008 activities to help members meet the challenge of renewing their work forces. We also developed a new Web site, careersinpublicpower.com, to educate high school and college students about job opportunities at communityowned electric utilities. The site is designed to appeal to young people. It has general information about careers in public power and lists current job openings. Soon, job seekers will be able to post resumes on the site. It also has resources for parents, educators and utilities. It can be a useful tool for utilities participating in job fairs or other community events. The 2008 work force survey showed that compensation and benefits packages are a dominant focus of utility CEOs and governing boards. Nearly 90 percent of chief executives and 70 percent of boards focus on compensation, while 80 percent of chief executives and 70 per- cent of boards focus on benefits packages. Compensation levels in the public power sector of the utility industry have presented a challenge for decades. Policymakers often face public criticism for setting utility salaries higher than civil service salaries. Yet, public power utilities compete with private and cooperative utilities for highly skilled personnel. Salary levels are often higher in other industry sectors. For many years, APPA has conducted a survey of public power salaries and compared those salary levels to those paid by investor-owned and cooperative utilities. Copies of the most recent survey are available on request to member utilities by contacting Paul Zummo, APPA research analyst (PZummo@APPAnet.org). The 2008 APPA Work Force Report, with details about this year’s survey findings, is posted on APPAnet.org and on careersinpublicpower.com. I encourage everyone to look at the new careers Web site and the 2008 work force survey report. The recent economic turmoil may delay the retirement of many longtime utility workers. But that is simply a temporary respite. The challenge remains and work force issues will continue to be a high priority for APPA in its 2009 activities. Our upcoming National Work Force Summit will conclude with a discussion of additional steps the association can take to support our members’ efforts to manage the challenge of boomer retirements. ❚ PUBLIC POWER http://www.APPAnet.org http://www.careersinpublicpower.com http://www.careersinpublicpower.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Public Power - November 2008

Public Power - November 2008 Contents Perspective 10 Questions Capturing Knowledge Before It Retires Jackson’s GIS Search Keeping a Job Journal Japan Tackles the Kyoto Protocol Getting to 20 by 10 Damless Hydro Power Earthquake: The Hidden Disaster For Engineers Safety For Governing Boards DEED Hometown Connections Parting Shot

Public Power - November 2008

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