A reviving economy means upward growth in just about every industry. It’s certainly good news for the energy industry, which supplies the energy needed to keep all those businesses going from day to day. While hiring in the energy sector is expected to stay strong in 2015, pinpointing certain trends within the sector can help energy companies find the right people at the right times.
Here’s what to expect in energy-sector hiring this year:
Marcellus Shale production – and hiring needs – will continue to boom.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the Marcellus Shale is one of the fastest-growing areas of the U.S. energy economy. Fast growth means fast hiring, and finding the right people to meet the needs for engineers, project managers, and other professionals has become a significant challenge for companies working in Pennsylvania and surrounding regions.
From 2007 to 2012, Pennsylvania climbed the energy-sector hiring charts to become second only to Texas in the number of employees working in the energy industry, according to the BLS. This growth is expected to continue into 2015.
Hiring engineers may take a backseat as cyber security becomes a major issue.
Online security and big data management are among the top concerns for industries across the globe, and the energy industry is no exception. Because they face unique challenges regarding security and threat detection, energy companies must also pour specialized resources into cyber security and data management – which means finding people with the right skills to develop, manage, and update these tools. Expect IT specialists to become the new “must-have” hires for energy companies in 2015.
Risk management and regulatory response will become an “all-hands-on-deck” situation.
Energy companies are no strangers to either risk management or the need to manage an ever-growing list of local, state, federal, and global regulations. But the days in which individual departments could target and manage their own risks are long gone. Energy companies in 2015 will need people who understand the risks and regulations and who can take an “interdisciplinary” approach, uniting and streamlining management efforts across departments.
At FootBridge Energy Services, our staffing partners make it their mission to identify and anticipate hiring trends in the energy industry. Contact us today to learn how we can put our knowledge to work for you.