Emerging Workforce Trends in the U.S. Energy and Mining Industries

Energy and mineral resources are essential for the nation's fundamental functions, its economy, and security. Nonfuel minerals are essential for the existence and operations of products that are used by people every day and are provided by various sectors of the mining industry. Energy in the United States is provided from a variety of resources including fossil fuels, and renewable and nuclear energy, all with established commercial industry bases. The United States is the largest electric power producer in the world. The overall value added to the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) in 2011 by major industries that consumed processed nonfuel mineral materials was $2.2 trillion.Recognizing the importance of understanding the state of the energy and mining workforce in the United States to assure a trained and skilled workforce of sufficient size for the future, the Department of Energy's (DOE's) National Energy technology Laboratory (NETL) contracted with the National Research Council (NRC) to perform a study of the emerging workforce trends in the U.S. energy and mining industries. Emerging Workforce Trends in the U.S. Energy and Mining Industries: A Call to Action summarizes the findings of this study.Table of ContentsFront MatterSummary1 Introduction2 Mature Sectors3 Emerging Sectors4 The Electic Grid5 Federal Energy and Extractive IndustryWorkforce Issues6 Safety and Health in ExtractiveIndustries7 Educating and Training the Energy and Mining Workforce8 Overview of the Energy and Mining Workforce Using Federal DataSources: Key Findings and Recommendations9 Overarching ConclusionsReferencesAppendix A: Overview of the Federal Data Sources Most Relevant tothe Energy and Mining WorkforceAppendix B: Overview of the Energy and Mining Workforce UsingFederal Data SourcesAppendix C: Data on the energy and mining workforce from federaldata sourcesAppendix D: Accronyms and AbbreviationsAppendix E: Committee and Staff Biographies