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The Topic: Workforce Planning UTILITY WEEK | 4TH - 10TH AUGUST 2017 | 9 WORKFORCE PLANNING THE TOPIC Perhaps the most talked about issue is that of the ageing workforce. This not only creates a personnel renewal challenge, but is also a significant brain-drain. Hundreds of years of collective knowledge is set to depart from the industry over the next ten years. Efforts are being made to ensure these skills are not lost. Mentoring programmes are growing, both as integral elements for apprenticeship programmes and as broader best-practice for multi-generation working. On top of this, flexible working hours, semi-retirement plans, retaining former engi- WHAT'S IN THIS ARTICLE l Highlighting Stars Awards winners, p10 l Health & Safety Champions, Rising Stars, Guiding Stars, p11 l Case studies, p12 l Centre for Ageing Better column, p13 l Nick Ellins, EUSkills, writes, p14 T he fact that there is a huge skills crisis affecting utilities must be ingrained into the minds of HR executives and boards of directors across the sector. The headline number sets out the scale of the challenge the industry faces: 221,000 recruits are needed over the next decade. A total of 100,000 of these will be needed to replace existing employees who are set to retire (20 per cent of the workforce). A fur- ther 90,000 will be needed to replace staff who decide to leave the sector for other rea- sons. The final 31,000 will be needed to fill new roles created as ambitious infrastruc- ture projects come on line and technology drives the creation of job types previously unheard of in the sector. These numbers make it clear that the skills crisis is on many fronts. A multi- faceted and coherent strategy is needed across the sector to mitigate the threats it poses. Recruiting and retaining the people you need National Infrastructure Pipeline investment for selected sectors/projects (2016/17 to 2020/21) Energy and utilities Transport, rail and SS2, ports, flood Oil and gas London Other Nuclear decommissioning Digital/broadband Total investment over life of project 2016/17 Hinkley Point start HS2 (phases 1/2) Mobile network upgrade (4G rollout and coverage improvements) end Intercity Express Crossrail end Smart meters end 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 £20,000 £15,000 £10,000 £5,000 £0 £ million investment £6bn £4bn £6bn £6bn £55bn £16bn Source: National Infrastructure Pipeline, Infrastructure and Projects Authority (2016) The only dedicated event for health, safety and wellbeing profesionals from the water, gas and electricity sectors who strive to make health and safety their number one priority Visit: events.utilityweek.co.uk/hs