Progressive Workforce
As the world progresses, so too does the workforce. The 21st century has seen a large shift in the way that people work, and this is especially apparent in the offshore wind industry. To meet the increasing demand for renewable energy, the offshore wind workforce must be diverse and inclusive.
Why Diversity in Offshore Wind is important:
Diversity in the workforce is important for several reasons. First, it helps to ensure that the offshore wind industry can meet the demands of the future. A diverse workforce will be better equipped to handle the challenges that the industry will face in the years to come.
Second, diversity in the workforce helps to create a more positive working environment for everyone involved. A diverse and inclusive workforce is more likely to be creative and innovative, and this will benefit the entire industry.
Finally, diversity in the workforce is important for the community in which the offshore wind industry operates. A diverse and inclusive workforce will be better able to understand and meet the needs of the community.
What can be done to promote diversity in the offshore wind workforce?
There are many ways to encourage diversity in the offshore wind workforce. One way is to provide training and development opportunities for people from all backgrounds. Another way is to create mentorship programs that pair experienced workers with those who are just starting. More specifically experienced workers that look like have been through and come from a similar area to the people they are teaching.
The offshore wind industry must take steps to promote diversity in the workforce. A diverse and inclusive workforce will help to ensure that the industry can meet the demands of the future. It will also help to create a more positive working environment for everyone involved.
Keys to a more diverse workforce
1) Workforce development: Provide training and development opportunities for people from all backgrounds.
2) Mentorship programs: Create mentorship programs that pair experienced workers with those who are just starting.
3) Diversity initiatives: Implement diversity initiatives within the offshore wind industry.
Equal opportunity in Offshore Wind
Environmental issues around the country nonetheless Long Island have plagued minority communities at a disproportionate rate. Long Island was quite literally designed to segregate, and annex certain people of certain colors from, opportunity, transportation, and funding. Funneling minorities to communities that are still underdeveloped and historically environmentally vulnerable.
Access to mortgages and other monumental opportunities was taken away from minorities at the beginning stages of economic development on Long Island. Brokers and agents weren’t allowed to lend or sell to minorities seriously stifling the growth of minority communities and giving a leg up to white communities that were able to leverage their homes and union jobs.
Long Island has the opportunity to be one of the leaders in the diversity and inclusion side of things when it comes to workforce development in the Offshore wind sector. Also, Long Island has the opportunity to right some of its cyclical systematic wrongs.
Offshore wind is coming at a unique time in Long Island history. With housing being mostly unaffordable for many especially millennials, we are seeing a mass exodus of millennials and others seeking opportunities in more affordable places on Long Island.
Offshore wind developers must make their presence felt in disadvantaged communities. The opportunities that offshore wind has an abundance of opportunities and more jobs than they can fill at this moment. Programs must be implemented from the elementary level up in disadvantaged communities to educate not only students but the parents of those students.
If you go to these communities they have no clue what offshore wind is nonetheless the financial opportunities these jobs will create. A volume of apprenticeship programs as well as other curriculums need to be developed in schools to help kids come directly out of high school with a chance at valuable long-term employment or college credits for them to have an upper hand in their renewable energy studies.
Diversity initiatives must be frequent and hyper-targeted to communities that have historically been overlooked on Long Island. The offshore wind initiative on Long Island is moving fast, it would be a complete travesty if people in these disadvantaged communities were left out once again.
Conclusion
Diversity in the workforce is essential for the offshore wind industry to meet the demands of the future. A diverse and inclusive workforce will help to create a more positive working environment for everyone involved. The industry must take steps to promote diversity in the workforce and provide tangible opportunities. Time will tell if they do.
- “Navigating Identity and Race: Dan Lloyd’s Inspiring Path to Founding Minority Millennials” - March 28, 2023
- 2023 National Clean Energy DEIJ Summit - March 23, 2023
- “Small Business Conversations & Cigars: A Night of Networking and Learning” - January 31, 2023