Large critical infrastructure projects involve many moving parts, and mistakes do happen from time to time. I recently visited a job site where the crew had inadvertently installed a pair of massive backward draft fans. These weren’t the kind of drives that you turned around once they were attached and connected to the system. It required complete demolition and reconstruction.
Failures like this point to a more fundamental challenge. The experienced staff who in the past caught these problems early are retiring, and now we are often struggling with an absence of institutional knowledge.
The roots of this challenge go back well before the mid-2010s, but it became particularly visible during this period. After decades of relying on a highly experienced workforce, many of whom had entered the energy and construction sectors in the late 1970s and 1980s, utilities and contractors began to see large cohorts rapidly withdraw. At the same time, the sector was undergoing significant change. Investment in renewable energy projects accelerated and demand for skilled labor increased just as veteran workers were leaving.
To keep pace, companies expanded their workforce and brought on board many people who were new to utility construction and power industry practices. But when organizations scale so quickly, it’s much more difficult to ensure that new hires receive the deep hands-on training that previous generations acquired over the years. The result was a widening experience gap.
Other trades face similar work pressures. The US will see 80,000 new electrician jobs a year through 2031, but nearly 30% of union electricians are nearing retirement. 500,000 more construction workers are needed next year.
As we prepare for this new hiring cycle, we must not forget that experience is not mass produced or taught only in the classroom. You learn from practical experience. There’s no substitute for working alongside a veteran colleague with decades of judgment built into their instincts.
The good news is that we are already seeing solutions with real traction. One of the most effective is the rise of “training yards,” simulated environments where teams set up systems, tear them down, and reinstall them to practice. Build trust before a live site.
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Invest in pipelines
We also see companies investing in workforce pipelines in ways that go beyond traditional training. In Kansas City, Meta donated several million for a community learning program that combines classroom instruction with real-world, on-site opportunities at its data center projects.
Another way to fill the experience gap is by bringing in people from adjacent industries. For example, Black & Veatch has transitioned process engineers from our oil and gas process teams to on-site generation because the skill sets and phased approach translate almost directly. Industrial turbines are similar and people come with new perspectives.
Long-term partnerships between developers, general contractors, commissioning teams and engineering groups are also becoming more common. This deeper collaboration helps everyone align early and stabilizes staffing and training.
Incorporation and certification standards, especially those related to training and safety, are much more rigorous today than they were a decade ago. But I’m sure better tools and software and AI will continue to make them more efficient.
What worries me, though, is a stigma that sometimes still lingers around business careers. The reality is that many of these jobs pay incredibly well, don’t have the same stress or debt that other paths do, and pave the way to leadership and business roles. These jobs are essential, honorable, and offer a real path to a strong, stable life. But we need to tell this story better; if we don’t, the pipeline won’t refill fast enough.
Don’t expect the problem to be solved overnight. But the solutions are already proving themselves.
Likewise, it’s a mistake to assume that the next generation of employees will somehow find their way here. That won’t happen if we don’t show them what’s possible. This industry built the web, infrastructure and systems that power modern life. If we want people to join this effort, we have to advocate for it. out loud Consistently. And from now on.
