As oil companies stay lean, workers turn to renewables
Emma McConville was thrilled when she landed a job as a geologist with Exxon Mobil in 2017. She was assigned to one of the most exciting and lucrative projects in the world. company, a giant oil field off Guyana.
But after oil prices collapsed during the pandemic, she was fired in a video call late 2020. "I probably passed out halfway through," Ms. McConville recalled.
Her shock was short-lived. Just four months later, she landed a job with Fervo, a Houston startup that aims to harness geothermal energy beneath the Earth's surface. Today, she manages the design of two Fervo projects in Nevada and Utah, and earns more than she earned at Exxon.
"Covid allowed me to pivot," she said. "Covid has given a boost to renewable energy, not just for me but for many of my colleagues."
Oil and gas companies laid off around 160,000 workers in 2020 , and they have kept budgets tight and hired cautiously over the past two years. But many renewable companies have grown rapidly after the early shock of the pandemic subsided, attracting geologists, engineers and other workers like Exxon and Chevron. Half of Fervo's 38 employees come from fossil fuel companies, including BP, Hess, and Chesapeake Energy.
Executives and workers at energy centers in Houston, Dallas and other places report steady flows of people switching from fossil fuels to renewables. It's hard to track such moves in employment statistics, but the overall numbers suggest that such career moves are becoming more common. Employment in oil, gas and coal has not returned to pre-pandemic levels. But the number of jobs in renewable energy, including solar, wind, geothermal and battery companies, is growing.
The oil and gas industry had about 700,000 fewer workers last year than six years earlier, a drop of more than 20 percent. Much of this decline was related to the slowing of the shale drilling boom and greater automation. In comparison, employment in wind energy grew by nearly 20% between 2016 and 2021, to over 113,000 workers.
In over in a dozen interviews, energy workers and executives said they switched to renewables because they felt the oil and gas industry's best days were behind them. Others said they were no longer willing to tolerate the extreme ups and downs in oil and gas prices, and the cycle of rapid hiring followed by crushing layoffs. Many said concerns about climate change, which is primarily caused by the burning of fossil fuels, were a factor in their decision.
Emma McConville was thrilled when she landed a job as a geologist with Exxon Mobil in 2017. She was assigned to one of the most exciting and lucrative projects in the world. company, a giant oil field off Guyana.
But after oil prices collapsed during the pandemic, she was fired in a video call late 2020. "I probably passed out halfway through," Ms. McConville recalled.
Her shock was short-lived. Just four months later, she landed a job with Fervo, a Houston startup that aims to harness geothermal energy beneath the Earth's surface. Today, she manages the design of two Fervo projects in Nevada and Utah, and earns more than she earned at Exxon.
"Covid allowed me to pivot," she said. "Covid has given a boost to renewable energy, not just for me but for many of my colleagues."
Oil and gas companies laid off around 160,000 workers in 2020 , and they have kept budgets tight and hired cautiously over the past two years. But many renewable companies have grown rapidly after the early shock of the pandemic subsided, attracting geologists, engineers and other workers like Exxon and Chevron. Half of Fervo's 38 employees come from fossil fuel companies, including BP, Hess, and Chesapeake Energy.
Executives and workers at energy centers in Houston, Dallas and other places report steady flows of people switching from fossil fuels to renewables. It's hard to track such moves in employment statistics, but the overall numbers suggest that such career moves are becoming more common. Employment in oil, gas and coal has not returned to pre-pandemic levels. But the number of jobs in renewable energy, including solar, wind, geothermal and battery companies, is growing.
The oil and gas industry had about 700,000 fewer workers last year than six years earlier, a drop of more than 20 percent. Much of this decline was related to the slowing of the shale drilling boom and greater automation. In comparison, employment in wind energy grew by nearly 20% between 2016 and 2021, to over 113,000 workers.
In over in a dozen interviews, energy workers and executives said they switched to renewables because they felt the oil and gas industry's best days were behind them. Others said they were no longer willing to tolerate the extreme ups and downs in oil and gas prices, and the cycle of rapid hiring followed by crushing layoffs. Many said concerns about climate change, which is primarily caused by the burning of fossil fuels, were a factor in their decision.
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