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• Celebrating Employee Contributions to EH&S
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• The Challenge of an Aging Workforce
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The Challenge of an Aging Workforce

Con Edison considers its talented, motivated employees to be one of its greatest assets. However, within the next five years, almost 40 percent of Con Edison employees will be eligible for retirement. The rapid depletion of job knowledge and skill level will present great challenges, and lend urgency to the need to retain bright, productive, motivated employees. A strong recruitment program will also support diversity and draw qualified candidates to the company.

An inclusive recruitment strategy supports diversity

Con Edison's recruitment strategies continue to draw a diverse body of qualified candidates. The Internet was the primary means of marketing career opportunities. The company posted jobs on leading recruitment sites that facilitated linking to a broad range of diversity Web sites.

Con Edison also posted jobs on the Society for Human Resource Management Web site, which links to a broad array of professional associations, including those that focus on Native Americans, people with disabilities, Asian/Pacific Americans, and Hispanics. We also participated in the American Association of Blacks in Energy annual conference. To increase the number of women hired, we strengthened our partnership with Nontraditional Employment for Women (NEW), a nonprofit organization that prepares women for work in construction and other traditionally male jobs. NEW has trained most of the women "hard hats" in New York City and has served as a model for national programs.

The military is an applicant pool rich in diversity. Our business partnership with a professional search firm specializing in placing military personnel allows us to tap into this diverse market. We also participated in an on-site recruitment effort at the U.S. Navy base in Groton, Connecticut.

We established a new business partnership with Bronx Community College Project HIRE, a 20-week, occupational skills training and development program that provides men and women with practical skills to re-enter the employment market in the construction trades. We also began a strategic partnership with the East River Development Alliance, a new community development corporation in Long Island City, dedicated to giving residents skills for job opportunities. Participating in a variety of New York City job fairs in 2007 introduced us to a multicultural pool of qualified applicants. These fairs were sponsored by the New York State Department of Labor, NEW, Women for Hire, NAACP, City University of New York, Asian Diversity, Inc., Greenwich Village-Chelsea Chamber of Commerce, QS Leadership Career Forums, Dress for Success, and New York Times.

Co-op and internship programs

Con Edison of New York offers New York City high school students the opportunity for work experiences that add a practical dimension to the technical skills learned in the classroom. Students benefit from career development and teamwork experiences. Since 2003, more than 80 students have participated in the program.

Con Edison of New York summer internships for high school and college students offer experiences that bring textbook knowledge to real-world settings. We look for students with high energy, strong intellect, and a thirst for learning. After graduating, many qualify for the Growth Opportunities for Leadership Development (GOLD) program. We particularly encourage students who are studying engineering, environmental science, or a field of business, such as accounting or finance.

The GOLD program

We mentor high-caliber college graduates for positions of increasing responsibility and leadership over an 18-month period through our GOLD program. The GOLD associates tackle challenging supervisory and project-based jobs through rotating job assignments that give them valuable insight into how the company operates. In the past seven years, we have hired more than 100 GOLD associates from the Co-Op and Summer Intern programs. Since 2003, we have hired more than 300 employees into the GOLD program. More than 75 percent of all GOLD program employees hired continue to enjoy careers at Con Edison of New York.