Developing a new energy workforce

INL is leading regional and national efforts to create the energy and technology workforce of tomorrow.

Thirty percent of INL’s workforce is at least 50 years of age and approaching retirement. That fact, combined with a growth in business volume at the lab, makes feeding the talent pipeline on of INL’s most important missions. This coming shortage not only affects research. There is an acute need for highly trained, qualified and talented technicians and mechanics.

INL feeds the talent pipeline by supporting STEM education in public schools, including Idaho’s Stem Action Center, and partnering with universities by bringing in interns and through joint appointments.

A partnership between INL, Idaho State University and Partners for Prosperity, an eastern Idaho-based nonprofit, resulted in the creation of the Energy Systems Technology and Education Center (ESTEC) in Pocatello.

The Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CAES), a consortium featuring INL, Idaho State University, the University of Idaho, Boise State University, and the University of Wyoming, is a one-of-its-kind entity that partners with industry to solve some of the region’s pressing energy and security challenges.

And INL is partnering with all of Idaho’s universities to educate and train a future cyber security workforce that will help protect the nation’s critical infrastructure.