Graduates see career in water as too risky

This article was first published by Utility Week.

University graduates are turning down roles at water companies because the sector has become “associated with failure”.

Meanwhile, energy networks are having to look abroad to fill key positions because they are struggling to source the right skills in the UK.

These were among the worrying admissions at a roundtable of senior figures across water and energy networks held by Utility Week in association with Marsh McLennan.

The dinner was held as part of research for the fourth iteration of the UK Utilities Risk Report, with attendees pointing to recruitment and retention as a top concern for the sector going forward.

This has been the case for all iterations of the risk report and there was a shared sense of frustration among attendees that so little has changed. According to Energy & Utility Skills latest summary, published last September, utilities will need to recruit 312,000 new people into the sector by the end of the decade. This figure is made up of replacing 107,000 people expected to retire before then and 205,000 new roles.

In the water sector alone, more than 40,000 new employees will be needed before the end of the decade. The struggles the sector has faced with public perception clearly make that task even harder, as one regulation director at a water firm admitted, saying: “If I was a university graduate today would I choose to go into the water sector? I genuinely don’t know because the industry is now so associated with failure, and you’d have to ask yourself am I damaging my future career by being associated with the sector? I’ve heard that from dozens of young people – they like the sound of a particular role but they see it as a risky move.”

Other attendees agreed, with representatives from energy networks saying that while they were not currently facing the same level of scrutiny, they needed to guard against complacency.

However, one attendee pointed out that other sectors, including government and the health service also suffered from poor reputations. They added: “You can also factor in poor pay into that mix. And yet they are still able to attract graduates. Why is that? Because there is a power of purpose that overrides those concerns. Perhaps we don’t communicate that purpose well enough.”

There was general agreement that this is an area where the utilities sector has struggled but that the high profile of the energy transition – and even the spotlight currently being shone on the water sector – offers opportunities.

One water company representative said: “I have huge respect for colleagues that are going to work every day passionate about serving people and protecting the environment, all while this negativity is swirling around. And they do it because it matters, and they want to be part of the solution. I wish we could land that message.”

A senior figure at an electricity network reflected on his pride when entering the sector, saying: “Putting on the jacket - with electricity written on the back - there is a sense that this means something. There’s almost a culture hack there where people are earning the right to have that badge, which shows they are part of something. Not every industry has that.”

But does this pride extend to a generation where, as one attendee put it, “lots of graduates want to put on a suit and go to work but it’s much harder to convince them to get into a hard hat”.

This a particular issue for unglamourous, but undoubtedly fascinating, areas like wastewater, one water executive pointed out.

An energy network director said: “The old adage is what would you tell your mates down the pub. But one of the challenges with younger people is they’re not necessarily getting that social interaction down the pub, they’re getting it online and that’s a very different framing. A lot of the narrative there is about getting quick money while looking impossibly glamorous.”

This attendee went on to say they were increasingly being forced to look abroad to recruit the skills they needed.

“We’re not just talking about emerging skills. This is about lines people, it’s about crafts. We want to be creating local jobs but at the moment we just can’t funnel enough people in domestically.”

The point was made that while there is much work to do in attracting young people into the industry, this cannot come at the expense of retaining existing talent.

One attendee said utilities needed to accept that most young people entering the profession are not looking for a job for life and expect to move around during their career. They advised companies to stop worrying about retaining young talent and instead providing a stimulating environment that could entice those same workers back into the profession later in their lives, when they may have different priorities and be looking for longer term stability.

Others agreed, with one saying that companies should stop worrying so much about peers poaching their staff. They added that churn can be a sign of healthy competition.

One said: “You can’t stop it (poaching) all you can do is manage it well and try to ensure you have a feed of good people coming into the organisation. That’s about STEM subjects in schools and persuading people that we’re offering a purposeful job where you can make a difference.”

Electricity transmission towers with orange glowing wires the starry night sky. Energy infrastructure concept.

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