It’s been a common refrain in Utah: an industry struggling with finding skilled employees.
Most often, the focus has been on the high-tech industry, but recently it was the energy sector singing the tune and trying to find ways to make young people aware of the current and future opportunities in that field.
A panel discussing workforce development at the Governor’s Utah Energy Development Summit in Salt Lake City discussed the many initiatives and programs that have been established to push more interest in energy but said it remains a challenge to stir up excitement.
“How often do you hear, when you ask a child, ‘What do you want to do when you grow up?’ and they say, ‘I want to be in the energy industry’?” asked Elissa Richards, president and chief executive officer of the National Energy Foundation. “Really, that’s our job, to make them aware of the energy industry. We’re really creating energy literacy.”
Programs such as those extolled by the panelists create “initial awareness of energy and then some excitement about it,” she said.
Alyssa Kay, energy management program manager at Salt Lake Community College, said young people ask about the kinds of jobs they can get with a degree in energy efficiency but often are not aware that their love of computers can be transferred into energy-related positions.
“There are so many opportunities in IT and software development in the energy industry, and that’s not something that kids are necessarily thinking about,” Kay said. “They are thinking about videogame design and some of the more-traditional IT roles, but really [we should be] emphasizing the applicability of IT in the energy industry.”
Panelists said certificate programs, internships, hands-on workshops and other activities are ways to get students interested and on a path to energy careers. Cory Filek, maintenance and liability manager at the Chevron Salt Lake refinery, said a partnership with the Davis Education Foundation resulted in a project involving K-12 students conducting engineering problem-solving.
“It’s a pretty incredible way to get people interested,” Filek said. “The idea that kids are drawn to technology and computers is fascinating to me because they may not think of a career in the energy business that way, but if you look at some of the tools that we use in our business, having that IT and technical background is an amazing benefit. Our challenge would be, how do we tie the two of those things together?”
Eric Packenham, senior lecturer and director of the U.S. Department of Education’s Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) at Utah State University, lauded the Physics Day activities at Lagoon amusement park, where 10,000 students from three states to look at science underlying an amusement park and check out companies’ information booths.
“I think that’s where we need to feed off of some of those natural connections and collaborations, because that’s where those couplings will happen and then we’ll see some of that residual outcome later,” Packenham said.
“There’s always an awareness gap,” said Ben Hart, deputy director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. “I mean, when you say ‘energy,’ what does that mean? How does that resonate with our students? Being able to allow them to put their hands on something is so important.”
Recent advances in energy development are a double-edged sword, full of both opportunities and challenges, according to Kay.
“I think that the path to development in technology and energy is both one of the most exciting things about being in the energy industry and one of the most frustrating things about being in the energy industry,” she said. “Because, really, when you’re looking at training students in pathways for jobs, what you’re looking at is, the jobs that they’re going to be taking 10 years from now may not even exist 10 years from now. So that … puts us in a unique position, I think.”
For example, she cited building automation. It existed a decade ago but was not well known. Then companies sprang up and needed technicians. “And now, basically anybody who’s a facilities or maintenance professional needs to know how to run their systems on the computer, even,” Kay said. “They’re not using wrenches, like they used to.”
Kay said a new pathway model makes it possible to have students graduate from high school, go directly to work, decide what they want to do for a living and then work to get the education needed for it. That runs counter to the traditional model of graduating from high school and then college before entering the workforce.
“As we introduce our own children into potential career paths, remember that the trades represent a good, steady living, and as technology increases, so too do the demands on a tradesperson,” Filek said. “I think sometimes we do a disservice to the next generation by focusing so heavily on post-secondary education, so heavily on the degrees, that we miss out.”
But how can businesses play a bigger role? Richards suggested that company officials can offer to come into classrooms and serve as “ambassadors” for the industry.
“Kids love to ask questions,” she said. “They’re fascinated by it once they start sharing things about their job and some of the skills they have and some of their daily tasks. I think kids need to have those experiences. They need to see that their neighbors are working for utilities — kind of driveway conversations about energy and how it’s such a part of who we are that we don’t really pay as much attention to it as we need to.”
Richards said misconceptions about the industry should be targeted to ensure young people get accurate information about the realities of the industry, and she also urged companies to get involved. Creating a better talent pipeline means increasing awareness and investing in education, she said.
“Create awareness among these students who are growing and making decisions, and then a presence,” Richards said. “Have a presence in your community, with your community members in schools and things like that. If you can really start to do that and they can put a face to your company and the good things that you’re doing, then it starts to make a lot more sense. You start to get kids who are interested in entering the energy workforce.”