118K Coal, Oil, Gas Jobs

Those who drill and dig for energy in America have seen a 15% reduction in jobs since March. That's higher than the layoffs seen in the wind and solar energy sector, according to a report published last week.

A report by BW Research shows that oil, gas and coal industries shed 118,000 positions between March and July, not counting temporary furloughs. That equates to about 15.5% of those industries.

In July, around 1,300 coal gas and oil jobs went away. The trend shows that additional layoffs might continue through into September, according to Vice President Philip Jordan in a memo he sent out last Friday.

The other side of that story shows 5,800 jobs recovered in other energy sectors in June, with motor vehicles and energy efficiency accounting for the bulk of those restored positions, according to a separate BW Research memo Friday.

Wind Turbine and Solar companies that are heavily subsidized grew, adding 3,200 jobs in July, the firm said this month (Greenwire, Aug. 12).

Overall American energy is “far below” where is was before the pandemic. “The job recovery in the energy sector has stalled out completely,” Jordan said.

As American's drove less and travel restrictions kicked in, far less oil was refined. Since then prices have recovered somewhat, thanks to “historically large” production cuts, Jordan said. But people are still not driving like they used to and the demand is sluggish.

“The percentage drop is a bit steeper” for fossil fuels, but the recovery was following “the same pattern,” he said.

The hardest-hit industry is oil, which lost 69,500 jobs. That's 17% of its workforce.Gas and coal lost 14% and 13% since March.