More oil jobs threatened as crude continues plunge
Houston Chronicle, Feb. 2, 2015
After more than a decade as an engineer with Schlumberger, Jack Robbins was surprised at his abrupt dismissal from the company in December.
Robbins and 9,000 others who lost their jobs at the oil field services company were among the growing numbers of industry workers facing unemployment because of the falling price of crude.
“It was ‘go to your desk, get your stuff, and get out,’?” Robbins said. “I was paraded in front of the whole center. Talk about a walk of shame.”
Robbins’ experience represents the new reality for growing numbers of oil and gas sector workers.
For the past few years, as the U.S. oil business surged and a barrel brought $100 or more, energy companies lamented the difficulty of finding qualified personnel to fill their ranks. That shortage of workers made employment in the oil and gas sector steady and lucrative.
But today, as oil prices plummet and show no signs of rebounding in the immediate future, employment in the energy sector is getting dicier.
“I’ve listened to vice presidents and even the CEO come in and whine about retention and ask ‘what do we have to do to get people to stay,’?” said Robbins. “After all the talk about people being so important – this was swift.”
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