This is a service / maintenance or supply contract in Olympia, Washington. Contact the soliciting agency for additional information.

Summary of the project: This posting is to seek a contractor to conduct the Electrical Transmission Workforce Study. The Washington state legislature has directed Commerce to conduct a workforce study and convene an industry and labor workgroup that will advise and make recommendations to support the needs of the electrical transmission workforce to reach the electrical transmission capacity necessary to meet the state's climate goals. The purpose of this work is to answer questions about labor shortages; identify challenges in recruiting, hiring, and retaining workers in the identified trades; evaluate workforce succession planning in the industry; and assess short-term and long-term training and workforce needs. The study must focus on the following job classifications in the electrical transmission industry: line workers, line clearance tree trimmers, and substation technicians. As part of this work, the consultant must engage stakeholders from across Washington's electrical transmission workforce, including labor organizations, Registered Apprenticeship Programs, the Workforce Training & Education Coordinating Board, local workforce boards, educational institutions, training administrators, public and privately owned utilities across the state, and relevant state agencies. Key objectives include understanding: Key Objectives: oEstimates of electrical transmission industry jobs needed to expand electrical transmission capacity to meet the state's clean energy and climate goals inclusive of the workforce needed to maintain existing infrastructure. An inventory of existing training programs and anticipated need for expansion of existing or additional training programs to meet current and future workforce needs; oThe numbers of apprentices currently in the identified job classifications; demographic data, including age, gender, race, ethnicity, and, where possible, other categories of identity oIdentification of gaps and barriers to a full electrical transmission workforce pool including, but not limited to, the loss of workers to retirement in the next five, 10, and 15 years, and other current and anticipated retention issues; oA comparison of wages between different jurisdictions in the state and between Washington and other neighboring states, including any incentives offered by other states; oAny data on the number of workers in identified trades that completed training in the Washington and left the state to work in a different state; oData on the number of out-of-state workers who enter Washington to meet workforce needs on large scale electrical transmission projects in the state; oKey challenges that could emerge in the foreseeable future based on factors such as growth in demand for electricity and changes in energy production and availability; oRecommendations for the training, recruitment, and retention of the current and anticipated electrical transmission workforce. This must include identification of barriers to entrance into the electrical transmission workforce, and recommendations to attract and retain a more diverse workforce, such as members of federally recognized Indian tribes and individuals from overburdened communities. The contract will run from 01/13/2025-12/01/2025. $125,000 is available for fiscal year ending 6/30/2025 and the legislature has proposed funding an additional $125,000 for the next fiscal year to complete the project by 12/1/2025.