By Ariana Hurtado, Editor and Director of Special Reports
HOUSTON — The oil and gas industry has been dealing with the challenge of recruiting and retaining personnel for awhile, especially when competing with popular industries like technology. Many recent graduates and job seekers are looking for a greater purpose of giving back to society, work-life balance and/or companies that have and are meeting DEI initiatives.
Fortunately, it seems like parts of the industry are seeing an uptick in hiring.
The Energy Workforce and Technology Council (EWTC) released its monthly jobs report this week, which highlighted an addition of 1,736 jobs to the oilfield service (OFS) sector both on and offshore the US, totaling 652,874.
EWTC uses the US Bureau of Labor Statistics data in addition to its own analysis to arrive at these numbers. The data only account for the US OFS sector.
Comparing September and October, job availability across the sector increased by 0.3%, as the market continued to add jobs for eight out of 11 months.
"As the US job market begins to cool, with the national unemployment rate rising by 0.1% in October, the oil and gas industry continues to increase its job numbers as global energy demand continues to skyrocket," EWTC reported.
“The oil and gas industry has long played a critical role in the American job market,” said EWTC President Molly Determan. “For generations, the oil and gas sector has brought prosperous jobs to those of all skill sets. As we continue to adapt to changes and work to meet global energy demand, workforce priorities have continued to shift. To remain competitive in the workforce of the future, the industry must remain on the cutting edge of technological implementation and engage talent who is willing to drive innovation.”
ALLY Energy CEO Katie Mehnert echoes this same sentiment in a workforce-focused column (publishing soon in Offshore's 2023 Executive Perspectives Special Report next month), stating, "This is why in our work with energy companies, I tell clients that it’s time to 'flip the script.' In hiring and recruiting, don’t start with what you’re looking for. Instead, start with what the great, talented people out there are looking for. In short, ask: What do people want?"
While an increase in job availability is good news for the oil and gas industry, one can't help but reflect with curiousity on the headlines of late about layoffs.
Last month it was reported that Shell will cut 200 positions within its low-carbon solutions unit in 2024, a spokesperson confirmed to CNBC. Shell will switch some of the jobs in question to other divisions within the company and some roles will be put under review next year. CNBC said the decision to downsize follows Shell’s failure to secure a grant from the $7 billion of federal funding to develop hydrogen energy, which was distributed in early October.
More recently, shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk, reported a steep drop in third-quarter profit and revenue last week and said it would cut at least 10,000 jobs in the face of overcapacity, rising costs and weaker prices, according to a Reuters report.
However, it's not just the oil and gas industry seeing large companies announce layoffs. In the first quarter of this year, Amazon, Microsoft, IBM, Yahoo, KPMG and Accenture, to name a few, all reportedly cut back their workforce, according to a CNN Business article.
So, although there is increased hiring in the oil and gas OFS workforce, the general perspective being reported by many HR managers is that the industry as a whole still needs to evolve its recruitment strategies and its communication to the general public to meet the desires of young professionals deciding between, for instance, an engineering role in O&G or Big Tech.
11.09.2023
