95
post-secondary education, though workers should expect consid-
erable on-the-job training to learn how to operate equipment, to
master safety protocols, and more.
Power plant operators
The job: Power plant operators essentially play management roles
for power plants, monitoring and controlling the systems that are
responsible for generating electricity and distributing it to homes,
businesses, and other buildings. The actual nature of this work
can vary depending on the type of plant—a nuclear power plant
works differently than coal-fired power plants—but broadly involves
checking meters to keep track of electrical voltage, adjusting
controls to increase or decrease electricity flow rates, monitoring
equipment for potential problems, and more.
The pay: Working as a power plant operator is a high-stakes and
potentially dangerous job, given the presence of high voltage
electricity and perhaps even nuclear radiation. These risks—as well
as other factors, such as typically long work hours—lead to a high
salary rate for most power plant operators. Indeed, per the BLS, the
median salary for a power plant operator in the U.S. is more than
$100,000 per year.
The prospects: While energy usage is on the upswing, power plants
themselves are becoming much more efficient over time. These
efficiency gains have been achieved, in part, thanks to automation,
which is expected to reduce the need for human power plant
operators in the future. BLS is projecting a 10 percent decline in the
availability of jobs in this category between 2022 and 2032.
The education: Power plant operators will need at least a high
school degree as well as a strong understanding of mathematics
and electricity. Some people seeking jobs in power plants will seek
vocational training or college degrees in these subjects to improve
their job chances. The majority of the most relevant training,
though, will happen after a person has been hired. Power plant