The Energy Department’s Savannah River Site has lost about 900 jobs over the past five years, primarily due to attrition, according to a recent economic impact study.
Released late last month, the study – The Savannah River Site: Economic Impact and Workforce Transition – was prepared by the SRS Community Reuse Organization (SRSCRO), a group tasked with working with SRS and other local stakeholders to benefit the site and local economy. The study focuses on how site employment and budget influences spending and financial success in the communities around the Savannah River Site. The 310-square-mile site is located near Aiken, S.C., and Augusta, Ga. and is surrounded by multiple counties in both states.
The Savannah River Site has an estimated workforce of about 11,000 employees, including Energy Department personnel and the staffs of contractors hired for operations, environmental remediation, and security, the study says. The figure is about 900 lower than in 2012, largely due to employees retiring, and that concerning trend will likely continue for the foreseeable future.
“The average age of workers at SRS is approximately 50 years old, and a large portion of the workforce at the Site will be eligible to retire over the next three to five years,” according to the study. “Already, the nuclear workforce is retiring in large numbers.”
Specifically, the study estimates 3,000 workers will retire in the next half decade. Savannah River Site employers could hire 500 or more workers annually in coming years to offset these retirements, SRSCRO Executive Director Rick McLeod. Since most of the hires would be replacement jobs, the hiring would be spread out among the site’s various contractors and missions. Those missions include cleaning up Cold War-era nuclear waste and processing nuclear materials so they can either be permanently disposed of as waste or repurposed as an energy source.
“Attracting and retaining these younger workers to our region is important,” McLeod said, adding that the study is intended to “make the local region aware of the type of things we need to be doing to be prepared for the pending transition.”
The study concludes that getting and keeping younger employees in the area surrounding SRS will take community involvement, and activities that will encourage the younger generation to stay put rather than move to other areas.
Two of the site’s major contractors recently expressed similar concerns on employment recruitment and retention. At July’s bimonthly meeting of the SRS Citizens Advisory Board (CAB), liquid waste contractor Savannah River Remediation (SRR) and management and operations contractor Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) both gave presentations on the issue.
Savannah River Remediation, which currently employs about 2,100 workers, estimates it will lose 175 employees to attrition over the next five years. SRNS employs about 4,800 workers, 50 percent of whom will be eligible for retirement in the next few years. Both contractors are working to fill the upcoming vacancies by partnering with local high schools and nearby colleges to get students more involved in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). SRNS believes it will hire 2,250 employees in the next five years, with most being replacements for retired workers.
