More than 80 years ago, during the Great Depression, thousands of unemployed Americans traveled from far and wide to the border of Arizona and Nevada, hoping to land a precious job building and operating one of the nation's great engineering wonders, the Hoover Dam.
Today, however -- even with millions of Americans unable to find a job -- that lasting symbol of worker pride and strength no longer is attracting the attention of America's skilled workforce.
A wave of retirements is about to hit Hoover. Two-fifths of the dam’s current employees will be eligible for retirement in the next five years, leaving the government scrambling to fill 40 upcoming vacancies.
The Interior Department agency that oversees Hoover is moving to fast-track hiring for its department-wide openings. But the dam’s aging workforce, mostly baby boomers closing in on retirement age, are part of a specialized group of hydroelectric engineers and electricians with a skill set not widely taught or available across much of the country, spokeswoman Rose Davis told FoxNews.com.
“It’s an interesting choreography at the dam,” she said, noting the next batch of workers will have to ditch their high-tech training tools and approach fixes using classic engineering techniques.
“It’s hands-on training,” said Davis, with the department's Bureau of Reclamation. “We teach mechanics and hydro electricians how the dam works. If the signals go off, this is what it means. Do you hear something funny? Do you smell something funny? We teach them to fix generators from the 1930s.”Read the rest of the story HERE and view a related video below:
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