BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN EMERGING AND EXPERIENCED PROFESSIONALS (CONTINUED)

Holly Callahan

Another reason for this drop could be the need to provide care for young children or aging parents that typically occurs between the ages of 30 to 40. Looking at the data again for these age ranges in Figure 3, there has been a drop in the share of 35-year-old engineers to 37-year-old engineers every year from 2015 through 2020.

All of this isn’t to say we don’t have talented mid-level professionals working in Civil Engineering and Floodplain Management today. We do, and they are likely to be stretched quite thin; managing increasing workloads as people retire, training new staff members as people enter the industry, while simultaneously managing personal life outside of work with children, aging parents, and large expenses like mortgages to worry about.

So, how can we help? As an industry, we should be working to support mid-level professionals by encouraging policies like parental leave and flexible work schedules, and be vocal about these policies as an example to other municipalities and consulting firms. Secondly, we should be diligent about building up the next generation (the emerging professionals), who will be integral to filling these gaps. Companies and agencies need to be intentional about developing resources and programs for career/professional development, mentorship, soft skill training, leadership and management training, and more for engineers of all experience levels. Finally, to the extent possible, ensuring successful emerging and mid-level engineers are paid a competitive rate, with wage increases commensurate with experience, cost of living, and updated industry baselines, could never hurt in increasing the retention of quality engineers.

Check out the Emerging Professionals website, which has been integrated with the main FMA website, for more information on how to become involved with or support EP programs like mentorship, Lunch-and-Learns, community service, and others.

THERE IS A RIGHT WAY TO DO THINGS.

AND THERE IS A NEW WAY TO DO THINGS.