Workforce Improvement Researcher Leads Efforts To Illuminate Wind Power Profession Pathways and Foster a Expert Wind Workforce
Neglect “brat summer.” Jeremy Stefek is prepared for “demure fall.”
“Maybe I’ll take a trip to the San Juan mountains, do some work during the day, take some evening hikes, and watch the leaves turn,” Stefek defined. “Fall, compared to summer, feels like less pressure to be doing something all the time. It’s a chance to reset and refocus.”
Stefek, who research wind vitality workforce improvement on the Nationwide Renewable Power Laboratory (NREL), is wanting ahead to making use of the demure fall ethos to his skilled life as properly.
“Wind energy workforce development—and our efforts to support it—is a complex puzzle,” Stefek mentioned. “I like to be the guy behind the scenes, helping put the pieces together and allowing others to shine.”
Learn on to learn the way Stefek is working to grasp the wants of the rising wind vitality trade, elevate consciousness of wind vitality profession alternatives, and develop coaching packages that guarantee a talented workforce is able to meet future calls for.
Fall appears to be a theme for you—your first Behind the Blades profile was in fall 2022. How has your position developed since then?
NREL’s wind vitality workforce improvement staff has grown considerably over time, a lot in order that we’re now one of many Wind Power Program’s core capabilities. With that progress, my position has shifted from primarily doing evaluation to specializing in mentorship, venture administration, and shaping the long run course of NREL’s workforce analysis. Probably the most rewarding elements of my work has been mentoring new staff members who’ve change into key contributors to our evaluation initiatives. Their ardour and drive are inspiring, and it has been fulfilling to information them of their work.
How do you clarify your work in laypersons’ phrases?
We attempt to perceive the challenges and alternatives associated to recruiting, hiring, and coaching employees within the wind vitality trade. We ask questions like, “How do we engage the people who build and operate wind energy projects and connect them with recruitment and training opportunities?” and “How do we make people aware of career pathways in wind energy—and how do we help them get on those pathways?”
We research expert trades {and professional} careers in each the land-based and offshore sectors. Every sector faces distinctive challenges, and we spend numerous time figuring out the place to focus and figuring out the best priorities.
What issues does your work try to unravel?
Each land-based and offshore wind vitality have bold deployment targets, requiring speedy and intentional workforce growth. Nonetheless, if employee coaching doesn’t preserve tempo, we gained’t have the expert workforce wanted to assist future initiatives. A key problem is to boost consciousness that wind vitality provides many alternative viable careers and to make sure employees are educated on the proper time and place to satisfy trade calls for.
Expert trades like electricians and turbine technicians, are important for developing and working wind vitality initiatives. For a very long time, there was numerous emphasis on the highschool to four-year-degree path, which left us with a scarcity of expert commerce employees—not only for wind vitality however for a lot of industries. Creating or increasing registered apprenticeship packages in the appropriate locations is essential, notably for offshore wind, the place market uncertainties pose extra challenges. Apprenticeship packages typically are more and more vital, particularly with necessities from the Inflation Discount Act. Once more, we need to be sure individuals know that you would be able to have a terrific profession in wind vitality—whether or not as a tradesperson or as an engineer or venture supervisor.
These are some complicated issues! What methods have you ever discovered handiest in fixing these issues?
It’s tough, as a result of, as a nationwide lab, NREL can determine traits and supply insights about the way to resolve these challenges, however we’re not at all times those implementing the methods. Nonetheless, we’re engaged on some thrilling initiatives. As an illustration, we simply held the first-ever Wind Works Discussion board, which was a digital occasion designed to attach college students with wind vitality internships and apprenticeships. We even have the brand new Wind Power Workforce Community, which is bringing collectively universities, neighborhood schools, registered apprenticeship packages, trade, labor unions, and federal, state, and native companies to share classes realized. I’m excited that our staff now has extra alternatives to implement nationwide packages and actively work on options.
Any venture updates or milestones that you simply’re particularly jazzed about?
We had 215 individuals register for the Wind Works Discussion board, and we have been fairly excited to see such a excessive curiosity in that occasion. Along with that, now we have three sources launching quickly which are years within the making. First, we’re about to launch the brand new Wind Power Training and Coaching Database that may map all wind vitality coaching packages in the US. Subsequent, we’re growing some new wind vitality occupational maps to outline job titles and {qualifications} wanted for the wind trade, notably offshore wind. We’re additionally releasing sources associated to the Inflation Discount Act, together with particulars on prevailing wages and apprenticeship necessities.
It’s essential to not solely focus on these matters but additionally information the creation of registered apprenticeship packages for these missing the capability or data to set them up. Lastly, we’re exploring workforce practitioner networks for floating offshore wind vitality on the West Coast. With these new packages, we’re getting alternatives to do some cool issues we haven’t accomplished earlier than.
If we speak once more a yr from now, what achievements do you hope you’ll be celebrating?
I hope I’ll be celebrating the profitable improvement of the wind vitality workforce networks we’ve been engaged on. It might be tremendous cool to see these networks come along with individuals connecting and collaborating successfully. Ideally, we’d have sturdy regional networks throughout the nation, with NREL facilitating and spurring workforce program initiatives. Moreover, I would like our new workforce sources to achieve traction and be impactful. Making certain they attain the appropriate individuals might be essential. I’m additionally enthusiastic about persevering with to mentor a motivated staff and serving to them keep engaged and balanced. That, plus the elevated momentum round clear vitality and workforce improvement, makes me actually excited to be working on this house. It’s individuals plus vitality. I adore it.
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