Andrew Schneider, of the Houston Public media, reports that roughly 56,000 Texans have lost their jobs in the oil and gas sector this year. Those that survived the cuts are finding little to celebrate as the holidays approach.
Crude oil prices have dropped to their lowest level in nearly seven years. Oil and gas companies have laid off close to 56,000 Texans since December of last year, according to the latest estimate from the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers. That does not include cuts in industries dependent on the oil sector, like manufacturing, trade, and professional services.
Debbie Milks is chief operating officer for Brookwoods Group. This staffing firm specializes in finding jobs for marketing and communications workers. Brent Smith, who teaches industrial psychology at Rice University, says that otherwise jobs are not there. The magnitude of the downsizing is quite large, Smith says. So layoffs are very difficult to accomplish in a manner that probably is going to be perceived as fair and equitable by the surviving employees.
The Greater Houston Partnership is predicting metro Houston will lose another 9,000 energy jobs in 2016. That will include more cuts at Schlumberger, which is finalizing its multibillion-dollar merger with Cameron.
Note: All oil and gas employees know well that oil and gas employment is cyclical via a historical 20-year cycle of boom and bust. The cycle has been interrupted this time by new geological advances in identifying new reservoirs, followed by new technology... horizontal fracking of reservoirs to produce natural gas and oil with great success. But with success comes over supply and lower prices... less profit and the need to cut costs .... e.g., geological and engineering services and geological staff levels. This is normal Capitalism but to the detriment of geologists.
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