The Oil and Natural Gas Industry Is Recruiting Minorities

An oil rig for the oil and natural gas industry

The oil and natural gas industries are an important part of the American economy. Despite continued efforts to move away from our reliance on fossil fuels, the United States is still the largest producer of natural gas in the world, and one of its top five producers of oil. For better or worse, the industry is booming, and that trend will almost certainly continue for many years to come.

Higher Paying Jobs

Further, and perhaps more importantly, the profits reaped by the oil and gas industry are actually translating into higher paying jobs. At a time when American workers’ real wages (wages adjusted for inflation) have been virtually stagnant for decades, the industry boasts the highest median salary ($123,000) of all industry sectors in the U.S., including healthcare and tech. And, while CEO pay is still astronomically higher than that of the average worker, the gap between CEO and employee pay in the energy industry is the second-lowest in the nation, Bloomberg reports.

Recruiting Women and Minorities

To support the growing need for workers in the energy fields, the American Petroleum Institute has partnered with several organizations to encourage minorities to seek industry jobs. These include the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. Through their joint efforts, the oil and natural gas industry hopes to fill at least 38 percent of available jobs in the coming decades with African American and Hispanic candidates.

What’s more, the pay scale isn’t just higher for white-collar workers with advanced college degrees. According to a 2018 report from the National Petroleum Institute * energy workers with a bachelors or associate degree in a STEM-related field have an excellent chance of landing a high-paying job. In fact, an estimated 35 percent of the current energy workforce of over 10 million workers are expected to retire by 2035. That translates to about 1.9 million available jobs, about one in three of which is expected to be in a blue collar field.

The API is also partnering with the National Building Trades Unions to train workers for construction jobs needed to build the infrastructure necessary to support the industry’s anticipated growth

About Us

At the Carmoon Group, we work with women and minority business owners to help them realize their strategic goals. Our area of expertise is insurance and risk management, but our commitment to MWBEs goes far beyond that limited role. As a minority-owned business, we take our responsibility to mentor and advise others very seriously. Just let us know what we can do to help. Call us any time between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.,  or reach out online and we will get back to you at a convenient time.

*The report was prepared by the American Petroleum Institute based on the RAND Corporation Study Postsecondary STEM Education and Employment in the United States: An Analysis of National Trends with a Focus on the Natural Gas and Oil Industry, by Matthew D. Baird, Robert Bozick and Mark Harris (2017).

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.