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Reading passage Grade 7 Careers & CTE

The Water Sector's Hiring Wave: Jobs Opening as Workers Retire

A grade 7 informational passage on why the water sector has steady job openings, the range of roles, and the education paths into each, with comprehension questions.

Objectives

  1. Students will identify why the water sector has steady job openings using data from the passage.
  2. Students will describe the range of water-sector roles and the education paths into them.

Vocabulary

Apprenticeship
A way to learn a skilled job by working alongside experienced workers while getting paid. Water utilities use apprenticeships to train new operators and technicians.

Also: water sector, operator

Teacher overview

The water sector has steady job openings, largely because many of its workers are nearing retirement. This passage explains that trend with real workforce data and lays out the range of roles and education paths into the field. Assign it to open a careers unit or to build background before students research a specific water job.

The Water Sector's Hiring Wave: Jobs Opening as Workers Retire — Grade 7 Careers & CTE
Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Passage

Renata is a fictional new hire at a city water utility. On her first day, she notices that many of her coworkers are near retirement age. Her trainer is planning to retire in three years. That pattern is not unusual. Across the country, the people who keep water safe are getting older, and the field needs new workers to take their place.

Workforce data show the same pattern. The water sector employed about 131,000 treatment plant operators in 2025. In 2016, only about 10 percent of water workers were 24 or younger, compared with 12.5 percent of all U.S. workers. Roughly one-third of the workforce could retire within the next decade. When those workers leave, someone has to step in.

That is why openings keep appearing. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects about 10,000 operator openings each year, on average, from 2025 to 2035, and that number describes operators specifically. None of those openings are brand-new jobs. They open because a worker retires or moves to a different career. So the field can be hiring steadily even though the number of operator jobs is expected to shrink slightly.

The work is also steady in another way. Every town needs clean water every day, in good times and bad. Operators earned a median of $60,020 per year as of May 2025.

The water sector includes many different jobs. Operators run treatment plants and watch the readings that prove the water is safe. Repair crews fix broken mains and replace old pipes in the field. Technicians keep the sensors and computer systems accurate. Lab chemists test samples for contaminants. Engineers design new treatment systems. Hydrologists study how much water a river or aquifer can supply.

Each of these roles has its own way in, and no path is a backup for the others. Some workers start right after high school, train on the job, and earn a state license or a certificate. Some earn a two-year associate degree in a technical field. Some earn a four-year degree in engineering or science. Some go on to graduate study. A licensed operator and a graduate-trained hydrologist do different work, and the sector needs both.

For a young person, that mix can make water work a stable choice. The jobs are spread across the whole country, they cannot be shipped overseas, and the coming retirements mean real openings for years to come.

Questions

  1. According to the passage, about how many operator openings are projected each year, and what causes them?
  2. What does the passage say about the ages of the water workforce?
  3. Why does the passage say the field can be hiring steadily even though the number of operator jobs is expected to shrink? Use details from the passage.
  4. Name the four education paths the passage describes for entering the water sector.
  5. The passage says no path is a backup for the others. Explain what it means by that, using an example from the text.
  6. Based on the passage, give two reasons a young person might see water-sector work as a stable choice.

From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.

Answer Key
  1. Answer: About 10,000 openings each year, and all of them come from workers retiring or changing careers. The passage attributes the figure to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and says it describes operators specifically.
  2. Answer: In 2016, only about 10 percent of water workers were 24 or younger, compared with 12.5 percent of all U.S. workers, and roughly one-third of the workforce could retire within the next decade.
  3. Answer: Because all of the openings come from retirements and career changes rather than new positions, so jobs open up as people leave even though the number of operator jobs is expected to shrink slightly.
  4. Answer: Starting after high school with on-the-job training and a license or certificate; a two-year associate degree; a four-year degree; and graduate study.
  5. Answer: It means each path leads to real, needed work and is not a lesser option. For example, a licensed operator and a graduate-trained hydrologist do different jobs, and the sector needs both.
  6. Answer: Any two of: every town needs water every day, so the work is steady; the jobs are spread across the country and cannot be sent overseas; and coming retirements mean real openings for years.

Differentiation

Support

Provide a small fact box listing the four workforce numbers (131,000 operators, about 10 percent of water workers aged 24 or younger in 2016, roughly one-third able to retire within a decade, and about 10,000 openings a year) for students to reference while answering. Allow questions 1 and 2 to be answered in short phrases.

Extension

Ask students to choose one role named in the passage and write a short research question about it, then a follow-up question they would ask next, in the spirit of a short research project.

ELL supports

Pre-teach "water sector," "operator," and "apprenticeship" with plain definitions and an example. Provide a sentence frame for question 5: "No path is a backup because ___, for example ___."