A Study carried out by SAICE (2004) revealed that there is a shortage of qualified civil engineering professionals in municipalities. The study further found that there are many student technicians who are unable to obtain experiential training or employment after graduating because there is insufficient capacity to manage and train young professionals.

The ENERGYS program ( Engineers now ensuring roll-out by growing young skills) was conceived to start to address these challenges. The South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) and the South African Black Technical and Allied Careers Organization ( SABTACO) have teamed up to manage this programme. The programme will deploy senior engineers paired with students and graduates in local government to assist with unblocking the bottlenecks and to offer a comprehensive training environment for students and graduates alike.

In the pilot phase of this project there are forty three seniors, forty five graduates and eighty five students deployed across more than seventy municipalities. Many seniors have expressed their concern at the limited understanding that their students and graduates display in many engineering principles and have taken it upon themselves to become teachers and lecturers. We have discovered a valuable latent talent in our seniors, which must be harnessed to the full.

In a new book published in 2005 (through SAICE) called Numbers and Needs, ( ISBN 0-620-35092-X) the author Allyson Lawless states that “because there are many vacancies in state organizations, it is recommended that posts should be filled by teams consisting of a recently retired senior and two or three young graduates. The senior should be tasked with training the graduates as well as initiating and managing the many projects for which there is currently no capacity.� Retired professionals should be harnessed to assist with workplace training to develop the rapidly transforming pool of graduates.

This project will become a beacon of hope for many other professions that are struggling with the lack of skills in the workplace. With 2010 looming we need to stand together and learn from each other and build a brighter future.