How Veolia invests in the next generation of water professionals

The water industry has a math problem, one aside from the shrinking availability of our most precious resource. According to theAmerican Water Works Association’s (AWWA) 2026 State of the Water Industry report, 21% of utility employees are eligible to retire within the next five years, and utilities already carry a 9% average vacancy rate. Another analysis shows the median age of workers in the sector is roughly 48 — well above the last recorded average of 42 — and only about 10% are under 24.

In the UK, 66% of engineers in the water sector say they will leave for another industry in the next few years, according to recruiting firm Murray McIntosh, and 23% say they’ll retire in the next five years.

What makes the numbers worse is what leaves with every retirement: decades of hands-on institutional knowledge about treatment processes, system quirks and operational judgment that can’t be downloaded from a manual. And the skills this sector needs are growing more complex, like treating newly discovered forms of PFAS and managing AI-powered analytics in treatment facilities.

At Veolia, we’ve made workforce development a central part of how we operate, with programs at every career stage to ensure the next generation of water professionals is ready to meet these challenges.

Building a pipeline from day 1
Attracting young talent to the water sector starts with visibility. Many students don’t consider water treatment as a career path because they’ve never been exposed to it. Our internship and early career programs are designed to change that.

In North America, our summer internship program offers 12-week paid positions across technical, commercial and corporate tracks, which give students direct experience with water treatment technologies. The 18-month RISE program helps new graduates develop skills, knowledge and confidence, with the end goal of transitioning participants into account manager roles so they have a clear career path and solid foundation to build their long-term careers within Veolia in North America. 

“As a new college graduate with no prior water treatment experience, the RISE program has been invaluable to my professional development at Veolia,” said Emma Kalokowski, Account Associate at Veolia. “The monthly meetings focus on practical skills that I directly apply to my role, and the networking opportunities are exceptional; I’ve learned from both seasoned professionals and peers navigating similar early-career challenges.”

Future Leaders of Water (FLOW) is a 24-month program geared toward recent college graduates to develop technical and business competency in mobile water integrated services site work, site operations management and engineering and support roles. 
In Europe, our graduate program places recent graduates into a structured 12-month experience with in-person workshops, mentorship and on-the-job technical training. In Latin America, our trainee program engages young professionals for one to two years with the expectation that they convert to full-time roles. The APAC Graduate Program attracts early-career talent from universities through campus-driven recruitment and internship-led integration. In Oceania and South Asia, the program operates on an 18-month multi-departmental rotation, with a foundational project-based internship. Southeast Asia employs a specialized one-day on-site assessment. Other countries across APAC also have structured internship programs to build a pipeline for future hiring.

“Being a graduate of this program has offered me the possibility to grow from both a professional and personal perspective by developing essential soft skills and experimenting in a secure environment,” said Riccardo Bonsignore, a Graduate Ozone Application Engineer based in Switzerland, who recently went through the program.. “I have been able to better understand the company structure and interact with senior leaders. All of this, shared with great colleagues, and excellent in-person trips to offices around Europe for workshops.”

For those early in their careers, our Elevate program goes deeper. Over 12 months, participants will take part in learning sessions geared towards deepening their essential skills through in-person workshops, coaching opportunities, leader chats with senior leaders and a Values in Action project that gives them the opportunity to make a values-aligned impact within their role. The program is deliberately cross-functional — participants travel with their cohort to see different parts of the business firsthand.

“The Elevate program gave me valuable exposure to different teams, strong leadership support and meaningful professional relationships,” said Maeson Nolan, Continuous Improvement Leader at Veolia, who participated in Elevate. “It helped me grow in key areas and led me to a full-time role I truly enjoy!”

Growing leaders across the organization
Recruitment alone won’t solve the workforce gap. The AWWA report found that a technology-savvy workforce ranked as the second most important factor for the future of the water sector among utility respondents. As water systems grow more digitized and treatment demands grow more complex, the workforce’s technical skills need to grow with them. New tools only deliver results when the people operating them have the training and confidence to use them well.

That conviction drives how we structure leadership development globally. Our ASPIRE program prepares employees for their first people-leadership role through a six-month curriculum. Participants work through real scenarios from their jobs, building skills in delegation, feedback and team management before they step into a leadership position.

For current managers, our Developing People to Develop the Company (D2D) program provides 360-degree feedback, personality assessments and individual development plans built around each participant’s specific goals. The 2025 cohort met in four sessions to create cross-regional relationships that strengthen collaboration across the organization.

And our leadership development program for senior talent, facilitated in partnership with INSEAD, brings high-potential leaders together for a six-month experience that includes virtual sessions and a capstone project addressing a core business problem. 

These programs feed into one another to create a development pathway that grows with each employee’s career.

Preserving what experience teaches
Our mentoring program pairs members of the Extended Coordination Committee with high-potential employees in other functions and regions. Over nine months, 18 mentor-mentee pairs meet monthly for confidential conversations about challenges, career direction and the kind of practical wisdom that formal training can’t replicate. Both mentors and mentees receive dedicated training on how to make the relationship productive, and a mid-term check-in helps recalibrate goals if needed.

An investment in environmental security
The water sector’s challenges are intensifying. Climate variability, emerging contaminants and aging infrastructure demand a workforce that can adapt quickly and think across disciplines. Developing that workforce is a matter of environmental security.

Our commitment to employee development reflects the broader goals of Veolia’s GreenUp strategy to decarbonize, depollute and regenerate our natural resources. Ecological transformation requires people with the skills and confidence to lead it. That means investing in those people at every stage of their careers.

If you’re looking for a career where your growth is a priority, explore our current opportunities.