How utilities can prepare for the silver tsunami

According to the EPA, an estimated 30-50% of veteran water and wastewater professionals across the United States are expected to reach retirement age over the next 5 to 10 years. This looming wave of retirements is creating significant operational concerns for municipalities and utilities that rely on experienced operators, maintenance personnel and technical staff to maintain regulatory compliance and protect public health.

Unfortunately, many organizations continue to approach hiring with outdated strategies that are no longer effective in today’s highly competitive labor market. These common mistakes frequently result in prolonged position vacancies, increased overtime costs, employee burnout and disruptions to plant operations. To successfully address the growing workforce gap, utilities have an opportunity to adopt more proactive and strategic recruiting practices that improve hiring efficiency, strengthen candidate engagement and better position the industry to attract the next generation of water and wastewater professionals before the brunt of the “Grey Tsunami” hits the industry.

Hiring need dictates approach

Matching hiring urgency with the appropriate strategy is critical for utilities that want to recruit talent in an economical way. For continuous recruitment or nonurgent roles, a job posting strategy can be a cost-effective way to attract qualified applicants. Job postings can help organizations to build awareness, generate inbound interest and engage candidates who are actively exploring new opportunities.

However, for an urgent hiring need, relying solely on a job posting can be risky because it is fundamentally a passive recruiting method. The most qualified professionals in many industries are often not actively searching job boards, meaning the utility is reaching a relatively small percentage of active candidates who happen to see and apply to the posting. By solely relying on job boards, utilities risk facing hiring delays, reduced candidate quality and may leave critical positions unfilled for extended periods when speed and precision are essential.

For municipalities and utilities that need to hire water or wastewater operators, having a dedicated talent acquisition staff member can be an effective use of resources. Highly technical positions in the water industry are increasingly difficult to fill through passive hiring methods alone. As an alternative to having a talent acquisition staff member, an outside agency recruiter that specializes in the water and wastewater operator recruiting can be a good choice.

A skilled recruiter can proactively build relationships with licensed operators, trade schools, certification programs, and industry associations while continuously developing a pipeline of qualified talent before openings become critical. This approach reduces vacancy duration, overtime costs, operational strain and compliance risks that often result from being understaffed in essential public utility operations. In a competitive labor market where experienced operators are in high demand and at retirement age, proactive recruiting can significantly improve both the speed and quality of hiring outcomes.

The downside of the hiring curve

Just as important as selecting the right hiring strategy based upon the urgency of the hiring need is making sure to not to rest on organizational capacity for too long while a department is understaffed.

Operators tend to put their organizations on their shoulders and show up each day (and night) to keep operations running for their communities. But at some point, an acute labor shortage turns into chronic organizational stress.

Consider that one critical vacancy will result in each team member carrying a little bit more of the operational load. In the short term, this may not be a problem, but if this becomes the new normal it can lead to a decrease in morale and an increase in attrition. Losing another team member while seeking to backfill the original role is the downside risk of the hiring curve and can result in organizational crisis, where being understaffed leads to more vacancies as team members burn out. In addition to this short to midterm risk, there is also long term risk if labor believes that this is simply how the organization chooses to operate. Every operator in America can tell you of a plant that they would not work in due to design, safety, management or reputation. Once an organization has a bad reputation, attracting top talent becomes nearly impossible.

Frontend or backend cost to hire 

When hiring managers and consultants advise utilities on effective strategies to meet labor needs while attracting top talent, they often present solutions for paying the cost of hiring on the frontend or the backend.

Investing upfront in proactive recruiting, talent acquisition support, competitive compensation analysis and thorough candidate evaluation may appear expensive initially, but the backend costs of making the wrong hire—or leaving a critical position unfilled—are often far greater.

The cost of a bad hire can range from 30 percent to more than 200 percent of the employee’s annual salary when factoring in lost productivity, retraining, turnover, and operational disruption. In water and wastewater utilities specifically, prolonged vacancies frequently lead to excessive overtime expenses, employee fatigue, lower morale, increased safety risks and burnout among existing staff who must absorb additional responsibilities. Utilities operating short-staffed also face increased risks related to compliance violations, delayed maintenance and reduced system reliability.

Ultimately, organizations that attempt to minimize recruiting investment on the frontend often end up paying significantly more on the backend through inefficiency, turnover, and operational strain.

This schedule has proven to reduce turnover and burnout. It gives each operator two 4 day weekends per month and can increase retention to near 100%. It can be a win-win that provides candidates with greater work-life flexibility without imposing additional costs on the utility..

Interstate applicants

One often overlooked strategy for addressing workforce shortages in the water and wastewater industry is developing a stronger understanding of interstate operator license reciprocity and how it can expand access to qualified talent pools beyond a utility’s local market.

Many states offer pathways for licensed operators to transfer certifications or obtain equivalent credentials, yet utilities frequently dismiss strong out-of-state candidates because they are unfamiliar with the reciprocity process or assume licensing barriers will be too difficult to overcome. In reality, many reciprocity applications are straightforward when properly managed, allowing utilities to significantly broaden their recruiting reach during a labor shortage.

A knowledgeable recruiter or hiring manager who specializes in the water and wastewater industry can be especially valuable in this process by understanding which states have reciprocal agreements, how licensing requirements compare, what timelines to expect and how to guide candidates through the application process. This expertise helps eliminate uncertainty for both the employer and candidate, reduces hiring delays and allows utilities to confidently pursue experienced professionals they may have otherwise overlooked.

Conclusion

The workforce challenges facing water and wastewater utilities are not simply the result of a shrinking labor pool or a “Grey Tsunami”, but also the consequence of outdated hiring strategies that fail to align with today’s competitive market. Utilities that continue to rely solely on passive recruiting methods, or lengthy hiring timelines, risk increased overtime costs, burnout, declining morale, and long-term operational instability.

Conversely, organizations that invest proactively in recruiting, employer branding, streamlined hiring processes, flexible scheduling and broader candidate outreach—including interstate talent pools—position themselves to compete more effectively for skilled operators. As retirements continue to accelerate across the industry, utilities must recognize that attracting and retaining top talent requires the same level of strategic planning and investment as maintaining critical infrastructure. Those willing to adapt their hiring practices today will be far better prepared to sustain safe, reliable operations for the communities they serve in the years ahead.