Energy-Industry Boom Creates Job Seeker’s Paradise
Published Sep 15, 2008
Installations such as the PSEG Texas electric-generation plant in Ector County are running at full tilt.
Record demand for oil and gas, coupled with several high-profile projects in the energy sector, has led to a job seeker’s paradise throughout The High Ground.
Unemployment in Midland is tracking around 2.8 percent, while in Odessa, Lubbock and Amarillo it’s averaging a bit higher than 3 percent. That’s about half of the national average, and the employment situation is likely to remain bright for the foreseeable future, says Kirk Edwards, president of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association.
“The energy industry is doing its best to keep people employed right now, and that’s causing a lot of stress on other industries to keep up the pace,” says Edwards, who also is a member of the Federal Reserve Bank’s El Paso branch. “I think everyone’s done their best to diversify away from oil, but with oil working really well now, and diversification also working well, it’s created a perfect storm for employees.”
Major producers are making news with high starting salaries and signing bonuses, but Edwards notes that it may well be easier for smaller producers to find top-quality employees.
“The bigger companies have set payrolls based on formulas and percentages,” he says. “Independents can roll out a project, hire people and complete it. Once they’ve sold out, then they can build a new team, start a new project
and go from there. Because they’re doing things project by project, they can pay better – and they are taking employees from the majors.”
The energy sector’s hiring bonanza has filtered into other areas of the region’s employment picture, with even low-end service jobs commanding well over minimum wage these days.
“Any cashier at any sandwich shop is making $8 an hour, and if you can run any kind of equipment in an oilfield, pass a drug test and show up for work, you’re going to make at least $20 an hour,” Edwards says.
He adds that some new energy-related projects are creating “hundreds of jobs … that are going to be fairly long term, so this is going to be going on for quite a while. We’re going to need a lot of manpower.”
Story by Joe Morris
Photo by Brian McCord
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