The Water Environment Federation (WEF) and the American Water Works Assn. (AWWA) announced the launch of WorkForWater.org, a collaborative website featuring resources for water recruiters, career seekers and students.
The site addresses one of the water community’s top concerns in the coming decade--the expected retirement of 30% of the water workforce and the need to recruit new talent to the field. AWWA and WEF in March announced the Work for Water outreach campaign, which promotes water careers as both professionally fulfilling and aligned to a public health and environmental cause: access to safe water and sanitation services.
The new website is a gateway to many recruiting and retention resources already available throughout North America and beyond. WEF and AWWA are inviting organizations to contribute documents, videos and links that benefit both career seekers and employers.
“Work for Water aims to generate excitement about and interest in careers in the water profession," said WEF President Paul Freedman. “This new website will act as a recruitment tool for all of us who are trying to make information on water sector careers readily available.”
“A vibrant, reliable water workforce is critical to the health of our communities and the environment,” added AWWA president Craig Woolard. “The Work for Water website will highlight some of the great work already being done to address the coming workforce crunch.”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which joined with AWWA and WEF members in developing the Work for Water campaign, posted a portion of its new “Water you Waiting for?” video on the site. WorkForWater.org also highlights efforts such as the Georgia Association of Water Professionals’ H2Opportunity!, and the Water Sector Competency Model jointly released by WEF, AWWA, the U.S. Department of Labor and EPA last November.
The site has landing pages for four audiences: high school and vocational school students, college students, second career and retired military job seekers, and advanced science professionals.
Source: WEF