Staff Reports - East Bay Municipal Utility District

A. Key Areas to Address Workforce Underutilization
For the next few years the District has prioritized hiring in three areas: Operations &
Maintenance, Infrastructure and Customer Services. Multiple hiring opportunities are
anticipated for the following jobs during 2013:
Electrical Technician and Instrument Technician
Maintenance Machinist and Plant Maintenance Mechanic
Water Distribution Plumber I
Wastewater Operator Trainee
Efforts to Address Electrical and Mechanical Workforce Underutilization
Table C shows changes in Electrical and Mechanical workforce underutilization over the
last six years. For all AA groups underutilization is increasing or remains the same. With
retirements and a growing need for infrastructure maintenance, the District will have
continuing employment opportunities in these areas.
Job
Group
Table C: Rate of Underutilization for Electrical and Mechanical Job Groups AAY 08 – 13
(Increased underutilization or no decrease in underutilization in bold.)
Females African Americans Asians Hispanics
08 09 10 11 12 13 08 09 10 11 12 13 08 09 10 11 12 13 08 09 10 11 12 13
Electrical 7% 6% 9% 10% 11% 13% 1% N/A N/A N/A 1% 3% 7% 6% 8% 8% 10% 10% 6% 4% N/A N/A 4% 3%
Mechanical 4% 5% 4% 4% 4% 4% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 4% 10% 3% 2% 2% 3% 7% 4% 4% 3% N/A 2%
Between January 2005 and December 2012, the District made forty-four regular, fulltime
journey-level skilled trades hires (Electrical Technicians, Instrument Technicians,
Maintenance Machinists, and Plant Maintenance Mechanics). Table D shows the gender
and race profiles for these forty-four hires; seven of the forty-four hires were made in
2012.
Table D: Journey-Level Trades Hires 2005 – 2012
Gender
Race/Ethnicity
Males: 44 (100%) White: 39 (89%)
Females: 0 (0%) African American: 1 (2%)
Hispanic: 4 (9%)
Hiring at the trainee level facilitates recruitment of qualified diverse candidates.
Recruitment at the trainee level provides a broader candidate pool because there are more
qualified diverse candidates entering the skilled trades workforce versus the diminishing
pool of journey-level candidates who are primarily from the Baby Boomer generation.
Since 2006, the District has not hired at the trainee level for Electrical, Instrument,
Machinist, or Plant Mechanic jobs. Two Machinist trainee hires are scheduled for FY14.
Additional plans to address skilled trades workforce underutilization are described in the
2013 Action Plan, pages 9-10.
Affirmative Action & Equal Employment Opportunity
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