Water Workforce Pathways

Building a resilient, sustainable water workforce

Freshwater's new initiative, Water Workforce Pathways, connects across public and private sectors to increase visibility and access to abundant, stable, well-paying jobs in the water industry. Motivation for this effort comes from a range of factors in the water industry:

• Many water professionals report high levels of burnout due to understaffing.
• Historically, the water workforce lacks diversity in age, race, and gender.
• A large portion (up to one-third) of the current water workforce will reach retirement age in the next 10 years.
• People outside the water industry often lack awareness of employment opportunities.
• As an industry, we need a unified effort to improve workforce strategies.

Goal: To coordinate water workforce efforts in Minnesota

Annual Budget: no dedicated funding

Partners: AWWA, WEF, MN Watersheds, MN DEED, Technical Schools!