Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility for the Hydropower Industry
Introduction
The U.S. hydropower industry is changing, and the hydropower workforce needs to meet the growing demands of new pumped storage hydropower development and existing conventional generation. Increasing worker retirements come with the need to rebuild its workforce. The Regional Energy Deployment System, which models the growth of the US power system from present day to 2050, predicts that the capacity of conventional hydropower will grow by 16% and pumped storage hydropower will double. This growth in capacity will require employment of almost 9,000 additional employees in skilled craft, engineering, environmental science, and trade job roles, which will likely be a challenge to meet based on historical recruiting, hiring, retention, and turnover (including retirement) trends.
The industry has reported difficulty recruiting for a range of roles and demographics, including hiring women, minorities, tribal members, and veterans, due to a low number of applicants. Findings from the U.S. Hydropower Workforce: Challenges and Opportunities report predict an increased retirement rate for skilled crafts and trades and engineering services jobs in the hydropower industry. Further, interviews with students and current hydropower employees in the U.S. indicate hydropower is not well-known as a career pathway, stating less than 30% of the industry got into hydro because they were specifically interested in it.
These trends demonstrate the need for the hydropower industry to strengthen its workforce pipeline by raising its visibility, identifying new strategies to attract and retain workers, and bring in new perspectives that can help the industry adapt to its evolving role on the electrical grid. By modifying existing practices or adopting new approaches, hydropower employers can meet the needs of the future generation of workers and expand the hiring pool to make this industry more diverse, accessible, and inclusive.
What is DEIA?
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) is a mindset, policy, practice, and/or framework adopted by organizations to create a welcoming and supportive workplace for people from all parts of society. Diversity includes attributes you can and cannot see about someone. It can include age, race, ethnicity, gender identity, neurodiversity, disabilities, socioeconomic background, and more. By expanding diversity, different perspectives, knowledge and skills can be brought to the workplace, helping organizations better reflect and relate to the communities that they serve. Equity, inclusion, and accessibility aim to provide fair opportunities and accommodations so that all workers can bring their best contributions to the workplace.
DEIA in the workplace builds trust between company leadership and employees, and reduces barriers when providing opportunities for all, including those from historically underrepresented identities and communities. Successful DEIA strategies require an organization to be open to evolving and sometimes transforming its culture by embodying and allocating DEIA resources and continuing to seek opportunities to improve. The principles of inclusion and equity can empower the hydropower industry to overcome past challenges while improving recruiting and retention.
