The rise of technologies and innovations in the energy sector has been observed for the past few decades. However, with the increased level of energy consumption this rise is not enough as the development of professionals is needed. The matter is that the employees do not keep up with the time and changes which causes the lack of high-skilled and qualified workforce.
To fill the positions in energy sectors, the recruiters need to apply extra efforts. The candidate should possess a background in engineering, technologies, mathematics, and other sciences along with the strong personal motivation to work in the highly competitive industry. The demand for the professionals is growing, but the number of qualified experts remains the same.
The problem has already expanded throughout the world. The companies start to recruit candidates from developing countries, hence these countries lose the workforce that could help to improve the situation in their own country. However, even attracting candidates from abroad is frequently not enough. It is explained by the fact that employees from different countries have different background and in most cases, it takes some time to teach the candidate the particularities of the region.
The tendency of enabling workforce
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Education and Training Classification System has presented the statistics on salaries in the mining sector. In 2016, an average annual salary for all occupations was $37,040, while the mining and geological engineers had an average salary of $93,720.
To start the career in the energy and mining sector, a candidate should have at least bachelor’s degree. It means, that the next generation of industry workforce should get a higher education, otherwise, the sector will meet the even bigger problem of lack of candidates.
Accepting the fact that the college education is not enough for becoming a professional in energy and mining sector, Madison Area Technical College launched a special educational program in 2010. Biofuels Academy became another initiative that started the educational programs been hosted in many US colleges and universities. Renewable Energy Academies became popular worldwide, which assisted in attracting students and young professionals to the industry.
The programs are intended to draw the attention of a new generation to the problem of renewable energy sources. The results are impressive: more than 96% of participants confessed that their interest in the problem increased significantly. This gives us the premises to think that more pupils and college students will start to think about the career in mining.
How to improve workforce development
The measures to change current situation should be taken immediately. Today, it’s a favorable environment to experiment with different audiences and educational materials, and the reach of influence is not limited by the country borders.
Cooperation of industry leaders and training provides
The first and the most obvious thing is to attract industry leaders into the educational process. They know the real challenges and they can share real expertise which is important for understudying the problems. By starting a partnership with training providers, they can draw more attention to the energy sector and involve a bigger number of students to their company.
Open trainee positions
Many students and low-skilled workers face a problem of finding a job. All of them either don’t have enough experience or skills to take the position, but they will be a good option to become a trainee. In the energy sector, they may gain enough knowledge at the opening positions and later on to grow professionally and personally, contributing to the development of the industry.
Growing awareness about trainee and educational programs
We do admit that energy-related education and trainee programs exist, but the society is not aware of them. Most of them are only partly filed. That does not mean that people are not interested in the programs. In most cases, people just do not know that such opportunities exist.
Today, it’s easy to tell about intentions to educate people. A company can use traditional or social media to attract students and those who would like to know more about the energy industry.
Postsecondary education
Changing the job and even industry is quite a common situation today. However, to get into the energy and mining sector, you need to have the corresponding education. This leads to the necessary of creating postsecondary educational programs. In this way, a person gets a chance to change the industry quickly and to improve the workforce. Of course, some of the students will use the services of https://paperwriters.org/ for essay and dissertation writing, but in most cases, those who decide to get a second education are more dedicated to the result and want to do everything on their own.
Energy and mining is a forward-looking industry that promises personal and career growth to everyone who joins it. However, it’s still important to spread the world about such opportunities, as many have no idea that this sector is open to attract new talents.
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