This article is discussing how the massive bust after the pandemic is reshaping people’s perception of the viability of working in the fossil fuel sector. Many young, educated workers (even those in petroleum engineering) in the energy sector are preferring the steady work of renewables over the boom and busts of the oil economy.
Normally, 80 to 90 percent of petroleum engineering graduates have job offers by their final semester, but neither he nor the majority of his classmates had jobs lined up, he said. Although he has begun to see petroleum engineering jobs posted again, he hasn’t had any luck. He plans to hone his digital skills and has started looking at engineering jobs with pipeline companies as an alternative.
“I always joked that I would be graduating in a downturn, but I never in my wildest dreams thought it would be this bad,” Mangum said. “It’s only been about a month since I’ve graduated so I’m not in desperate straits yet, but I can definitely feel the pressure mounting to find employment of some kind.”
