Oil & Gas hiring amidst Global Recession

Now that the global recession has become a household term and lay offs & pink slips have become a part of our daily vocabulary, you might find it odd to find large number of ads by oil & gas companies on job classifieds. Oil prices are less than half of what it used to be a few months back. So, why are the oil companies still hiring?

Sure, the worldwide economic growth is slowing and the low crude oil price IS affecting new projects. Prospects aren't too bright for any job, be it in Oil & Gas or any other sector. But if you work in the field, there are still plenty of interesting positions. Companies that have started new upstream activities will continue with their effort. Recession or not, that is still a lot of work waiting for workers to complete. In recent report on The Daily Times, a few local oil companies have stopped their hiring, larger companies continue to hire.

There are two major reasons behind it.

First reason is the basic economic principle of demand and supply. Demand for oil and gas remains high due to the emergence of new economies like China and India. Though China has come down from a blistering two digit growth, the current growth rate is at an enviable 9%. India too is not far behind. Even if oil demands slack from traditional giants America and Europe, new economies will continue to drive up the demand. Recently, the International Energy Agency predicts that China and India will need 300% more crude oil for their economies by 2030. This is good enough reason for oil companies to continue investing in exploration & production projects, either greenfield or in prepping older wells through enhanced oil recovery techniques.

The second major reason for this continuous hiring effort from the oil companies is talent shortage. Today, there are so many jobs, particularly in technical fields, filled by graying workers hired in the 1970s. Most of them will be reaching retirement age in a few years. While the oil and gas companies looking to rejuvenate its work force with young blood, your prospects of getting positions in this sector s remains strong.