The Aging Workforce, A Utility's Perspective

I am reminded daily at work how inexperienced I am. Experience breeds wisdom. The average years of experience at my plant is 18 years, the average age of the worker is about 49 years old. I have 6 years experience working at my current Job. I don't expect these numbers to change, neither do the Plant Managers. Most employees started working at the plant in their late teens and have seen a variety of plant specific issues during their tenure. They can remember a specific event and what was done to arrive at a solution. Occasionally these guys report to me and I am expected to find solutions to complex issues, at these times I readily rely on their expertise. Most utilities like LG&E embrace their aging workforce. More often than not they provide real life experience that can not be found in an OEM manual.


These people are getting older, there will be unmanageable disruptions and a significant brain drain when they eventually take retirement. At LG&E we are slowly integrating a younger workforce that will work closely with these older employees to mitigate the expected impact of their retirement. However, that's in the future at this moment we celebrate their presence and draw from their experience to guide us to a more reasoned solution to the problem of the day.