Employment trends dip in oil, gas production business

Washington (Platts)--19Apr2005

Employment by the largest US oil and gas companies slipped 4.1% in 2004, the
20th decline in 23 years, John S Herold Inc. said Tuesday. The Houston-based
research company said the top 25 companies have shed almost 120,000 positions
since 1999. 

In 2004, employee headcount among the firms fell by more than 21,000 jobs to
just over 514,000. Since the 1981 oil price peak, the giant oil companies have
shed more than 1.11-mil employees, Herold said. Despite the trend, the report
says it sees "extremely strong growth prospects in the years ahead for oil and
gas personnel in all facets of the industry, from the wellhead to the
executive suite." Herold Chairman and Chief Executive Arthur L Smith added
that, "the oil industry faces a Herculean task in overcoming its reputation
for brutal treatment of professionals during the past two decades of
downsizing." Unless oil and gas companies take drastic steps to reverse the
"brain drain" of the energy industry, "a severe personnel crunch is
preordained," he said. 

This story was originally published in Platts Natural Gas Alert
http://www.naturalgasalert.platts.com

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