IEEE PES Show Blog

Aging Workforce – Crisis or Not

April 19, 2008

In the next 5 years there is going to be a brain-drain the likes of which has never been seen before. The “Baby-Boomers” are poised for retirement - surveys place the exodus at 50%. Many in the industry refuse to acknowledge it. Some utilities have a plan – hire the retired! Some “new” engineers can hardly wait until the “Old-Guard” is gone and they can modernize the grid. Where do you fit? My friend Wanda Reder, S&C's VP of Power Systems Services is chairing the “Aging Workforce – Overcoming the Technical Talent Challenge” Super Session on Tuesday afternoon. It will be a very interesting session to say the least. I'd welcome any and all comments.

About the Author

Gene Wolf Blog | Technical Writer

Gene Wolf has been designing and building substations and other high technology facilities for over 32 years. He received his BSEE from Wichita State University. He received his MSEE from New Mexico State University. He is a registered professional engineer in the states of California and New Mexico. He started his career as a substation engineer for Kansas Gas and Electric, retired as the Principal Engineer of Stations for Public Service Company of New Mexico recently, and founded Lone Wolf Engineering, LLC an engineering consulting company.

Gene is widely recognized as a technical leader in the electric power industry. Gene is a fellow of the IEEE. He is the former Chairman of the IEEE PES T&D Committee. He has held the position of the Chairman of the HVDC & FACTS Subcommittee and membership in many T&D working groups. Gene is also active in renewable energy. He sponsored the formation of the “Integration of Renewable Energy into the Transmission & Distribution Grids” subcommittee and the “Intelligent Grid Transmission and Distribution” subcommittee within the Transmission and Distribution committee.