The Australia water Industry needs to recruit 40,000 trained water professionals within a decade to ensure Australian households continue receiving clean fresh water, according to the Australian Water Association (AWA).
According to the AWA chief executive officer, Tom Mollenkopf — who is also chair of the Water Skills Taskforce — 80,000 people currently work in the water industry in Australia however a large percentage of them are over 50 years of age, meaning in 10-15 years time they could have retired.
This includes water professionals in all areas of the water industry, including industrial water treatment, desalination and wastewater.
“Retirement and normal attrition will see 40,000 vacancies by 2018,” said Mollenkopf, speaking at the launch of National Water Week in Canberra.
“The good news, especially for young Australian men and women, is that the water industry will provide diverse opportunities in the professions and trades in both the private and public sectors.”
Mollenkopf also launched the ‘H2Oz careers in water’ campaign to encourage people to both seek and embark on careers in the water sector.
“In the national water industry people can work in urban, regional or rural locations. We need people in engineering science, all manner of trades, customer service, planning, accounting, IT and human resources,” he said.
“Participants can directly contribute to improving environmental and public health outcomes in an industry that is fun to work in.”