Workforce Management
May 2009
A Florida energy company turns to local Latino talent as it grapples with an aging workforce. With Latin American immigrants a growing presence in the U.S. labor force, multicultural experts advise employers to start thinking about development programs that go well beyond basic English training.
By Charlotte Huff
Officials at Florida Power & Light Co. preferred not to dally until national demographic trends eroded the core of their nuclear expertise: their employees. The median age of a nuclear energy worker had reached 48, according to data from the Nuclear Energy Institute, a Washington-based industry lobbying group. Up to 35 percent of existing employees nationally will qualify for retirement within the next five years.
Florida Power & Light had traditionally hired through several routes for its nuclear plant in South Florida, including recruiting former military personnel, says James Auld, industry and community training coordinator for the 11,000-employee company. Since those employees usually relocated from elsewhere, they were prone to later jump ship, fleeing Florida’s hothouse climate or moving back closer to family.
So officials began to brainstorm several years ago about ways to better cultivate local talent. That meant reaching out to the predominantly Hispanic community living near the nuclear plant, which is about 25 miles south of Miami. The result: a partnership with nearby Miami Dade College that has already produced its first class of graduates, with more in the pipeline, and a growing waiting list.
Teaming up with a nearby community college is only one of various strategies that corporate employers in Florida and elsewhere are implementing to better train and support Hispanic employees, a demographic group that’s poised to constitute a significant portion of the labor force’s backbone.
Full Story: http://www.workforce.com/archive/feature/26/44/43/index.php
http://www.workforce.com/archive/feature/26/44/43/index.php
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