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Branding the Organization/Industry 53
Exhibit 7-1 (Continued)
Snapshot of Chapter 7
Workforce Pipeline Target Area
Target Career Stages
Comm. 4 year Graduate Entry-Level Mid-Career Senior
K-12 Retirees
Colleges Colleges Schools Staff Staff Leaders
TRANSPORTATION WORKFORCE PIPELINE
Branding the Organization/Industry
Chapter 7 Target Area
7.1 Workforce Challenges. Programs related to "Branding the Organization/Industry" are
typically designed to address negative and inaccurate perceptions of a job or career within the industry.
These challenges should be carefully considered before selecting the program that would best fit the
needs of your agency. For example, these are common challenges agencies face:
Failure to Adequately Brand the Industry. The image of the transportation industry is poor among some
youth, parents, and educators. Due to this negative stigma, young people who seek jobs or develop skills
that are used in transportation jobs often discredit the transportation industry as a career option.
Transportation jobs are often thought to be jobs that involve getting dirty (can be an asset for
environmental professionals who prefer jobs that get them out into the field/nature) and have low wages
and little chance for advancement, without recognizing the potential long-term career opportunities.
Transportation organizations need to continue to unify efforts around re-branding the industry and
educating young people regarding their opportunities.
Employee Age, Generational Gap. Organizations mentioned two compounding trends where a large
population of older workers is retiring from skilled positions in the next 5 years and less younger workers
are joining the transportation workforce. Even if the number of young people joining the workforce does
increase, transportation organizations may not have enough time to develop the skills necessary to fill
vacant positions if retirements and turnover accelerate again. Participants reported that the greatest
workforce challenge is marketing careers in the transportation industry to young people and recruiting
them into skilled and unskilled positions, though such difficulties have eased with high unemployment
across the country. Contractors are challenged with finding ways to demonstrate that transportation jobs
are rewarding, long-term careers. The current workforce is skewed toward the upper age brackets given a
large influx 20-40 years ago, leading to conditions over the last decade and a half where employees have
been retiring at a faster rate than young people are entering the industry.
Misperceptions of the Job. Transportation participants indicated that their organizations struggle with
negative perceptions associated with the transportation industry. A large percentage of potential
applicants do not understand the range of positions and opportunities available in transportation. For
example, one participant noted that the majority of students attending a high school career fair indicated
on a survey that an engineer was (only) the person who drove a train. Another participant described a
college engineering professor who deterred his students from taking jobs at the DOT because it would be
a "waste of their talent." The problem is more acute for maintenance engineers, and maintenance staff
comprise the bulk of remaining DOT staff now. Organizations are challenged with convincing potential
applicants that they can establish a full career, not just a temporary job, in transportation.
