Virtual Reality CAREER EXPLORATION
Equinor US | New York City Harbor School | Virtual Reality Career Exploration
The US Offshore wind workforce is expected to create 77,000 new jobs by 2030 to fulfill all of the current offshore wind projects. However, US Wind Energy education programs currently face an 80% attrition rate due to the lack of workforce recruiting and career education tools available. New York City (NYC) is set to be one of the major centers for Offshore Wind in the US, but like elsewhere in the country, wind energy is a new concept. Many students who will be the future workers for NYC projects have no idea what careers are available to them in the industry and if those careers are something they would want to pursue. Working with Equinor US’s Community Engagement team, the Offshore Wind Innovation Hub, and New York City Harbor School, VinciVR brought its virtual reality career exploration tools to NYC’s best and brightest students.
Accelerated Insight and Enriched Engagement
40%
Increase in understanding of specific careers within 10 minutes
39%
Increase in industry understanding within 5 minutes
Extremely
Favorable
Average Favorability Score of an industry or company after a VR experience
22%
Increase in green energy career interest
PROBLEM
A Whole New World
Set for construction to start in a few short years, Equinor’s Empire Wind Project would power NYC with over 1GW of Offshore Wind Power. However, the project would need to be supported by thousands of new, local workers. To construct and support such a long-term project, high school students (ages 15-18) would need to begin looking at training options today.
However, in NYC, Offshore Wind has not yet entered the mainstream zeitgeist, and most students have never heard of Offshore Wind and/or know about career options in the industry that suits their needs. The New York City Harbor School, located on Governors Island, is one of the premier maritime vocational schools in NYC and would be an ideal school to bring Offshore Wind Career Exposure to.
Equinor US partnered with Vinci VR to host students at Empire Wind’s staging port and bring Vinci’s career exploration VR modules to these students.
Students at the New York Harbor School explore Wind Energy careers in VR
How else do you get a kid inside a crane? You can’t job shadow them. That’s why Vinci’s VR tool is great.
Rick Lee,
Harbor school
“
SOLUTION
Empowering Career Exploration with VR
Vinci VR brought 3 of its career exploration VR modules to Empire Wind; Day in the Life of an Offshore Wind tech, Crane Operator, and Tower Component Welding. 20 students from the NYC Harbor School completed all three of the modules.
Before the education session, none of the students had known anything about these careers; after completing the short VR modules, the students were all scoring above average in understanding of each career in exit exams. Some students were extremely enthusiastic about starting a career in offshore wind, while others found that working at heights and rough seas was not for them.
Overall, the impact of the VR modules were overwhelmingly positive; in a few short minutes, students were able to increase their understanding of the wind energy industry by 40%, the understanding of specific careers by 39%, and saw Equinor’s brand as “Extremely Favorable”.
Vinci VR and Equinor US continue to collaborate on meaning career education events.