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I hear that Old Man Winter in wreaking havoc once again in
northwest Ohio! Unfortunately, record low temperatures are
pummeling the area. Schools are closing, water and heating
systems are working overtime and failing, and, of course,
energy costs (gas and electric) will make huge dent in local
bank accounts! As mentioned in previous articles, help is
only a phone call away.
Call 419-297-6139 or 419-486-9273 to discuss how to reduce
your energy costs.
Global Energy Job Market
Low oil prices have improved consumer confidence and jump
started the economy! Employers in a variety of industries
are hiring and consumers are spending more. Gas guzzling
vehicle purchases are flying off the lot and Americans are
planning road trips at an exponential rate. That’s the
goodness of low oil prices. The national average gas price
is $2.25 per gallon. This is one of the byproducts of low
oil prices.
However, there is another side to low oil prices. Fledgling
oil companies that have low margins and poor balance sheets
are struggling; i.e., the weak companies will fail resulting
in the loss of thousands of jobs.
Several emerging oil exploration projects have been placed
on hold. This has compelled several global oil services
companies to lay off thousands of workers. Baker Hughes
announced last week that it will cut 7,000 jobs globally.
Halliburton announced it will cut 6,400 jobs representing
eight percent of its global workforce, and Schlumberger will
eliminate 9,000 positions, which represents nine percent of
its global workforce.
As a matter of fact, more than 100,000 lay-offs have been
announced since oil prices began to slide last summer.
Additionally, Position Drilling, one of the largest rig
contractors of North America, has idled more than 20 percent
of its rigs, resulting in a loss of 1,000 skilled operators
jobs. This will negatively impact one of the primary growth
drivers of the American economy and, unfortunately, slow
down the diversification of its typically homogenous
workforce.
If you recall, in an earlier Energy & You article, I
reported that the oil and gas industry is looking to include
people of color. This, unfortunately, may change in the
short term.
However, the graying of the O&G workforce, with a glut of
experienced workers in their late 50s who are ready to
retire, will require several fresh workers with technical
and leadership experience. Rigzone reports that there is an
acute shortage of mid-career professionals aged 35-45, with
10-20 years training and experience.
Recently, oil prices have rebounded, Brent & WTI (defined in
a previous article) have clawed back and regained about 20
percent value. This could slow down layoffs and thaw out the
recent hiring freeze. I will cover more about job creation
in the 2015 energy industry in the next month’s article.
What is Sustainability? Part II
As I mentioned in the last Energy & You article,
sustainability in its truest form focuses on people, profits
and planet. Basically, sustainability focuses on three
critical areas: social, economic and environmental systems
i.e. The Triple Bottom Line. Many often mistakenly
think that sustainability is about ‘tree-hugging’. That
couldn’t be further from the truth.
Yes, one of the key areas of sustainability is focused on
environmental stewardship. However, as Jeff Immelt said when
he launched Eco Imagination at GE – ‘Green’ is about Green!
We will come back to that in the next Energy & You article.
Parker Family of Businesses Energy and Sustainability
Scholarship
Parker Family of Businesses is a progressive, principled
collection of companies whose purpose and passion are to
help people develop, to grow profitable businesses, and to
drive sustainability efforts for our planet. We provide
professional services for public and private sector clients
worldwide.
We also pride ourselves on offering development
opportunities for people of color who are traditionally
underrepresented in the technology, energy, and
sustainability industries. We are committed to bridging the
technology, energy, and sustainability divide by offering
scholarships for high school seniors and first year college
students from the urban communities.
Qualifying students have an opportunity to earn $1,000
scholarships for the 2015-2016 academic year. For more
information, e-mail
info@parkerfob.com or call 419-297-6139. The
application and scholarship requirements can be found on the
Parker Family of Businesses Facebook page. |
