Tampa Bay Water Blog

Tampa Bay Water has a wide range of positions to keep the agency running: water treatment plant operators, hydrologic technicians, mechanical technicians, electricians, engineers, scientists, accounting technicians, and construction project managers, just to name a few. Many of these jobs are highly specialized, so it’s important to have a succession plan in place to ensure the agency continues to provide high-quality drinking water to the region as employees retire or leave.

Tampa Bay Water has been working with third-party expert Jacobs-CH2M to analyze current staff proficiencies and gaps, along with future needs as the agency moves toward more capital planning and construction. They found among the 155 approved positions:

• 56 percent of Tampa Bay Water’s employees have less than 10 years with the agency
• 30 percent of the workforce is over age 60, in line with the industry average
• The agency’s attrition rate of 1.9 percent is well below the industry average of 8.6 percent, and
• 23 employees are eligible for retirement over the next five years (though not all have expressed a desire to retire).

Using this information, the agency has created a succession plan, which was shared with the board at its Dec. 14, 2020, meeting. Among the succession initiatives under consideration are a transitional hiring or mentoring program, academic partnerships, and apprentice program and formal cross-training.