Pandemic slashes fossil fuels workforce

The fossil fuels industry lost an estimated 118,000 jobs from March to July as the coronavirus pandemic plunged demand for petroleum products and electricity.

The losses in oil, natural gas and coal jobs represent a staggering 15.5 percent drop in employment for the sector, which has been struggling in recent years as developed nations are shifting toward more sustainable sources of energy. Oil lost the most workers among fossil fuel sectors, shedding 69,400 jobs, or 17 percent of its pre-pandemic workforce, according to a new report from BW Research Partnership, a California market research firm.

Texas had the largest number of oil and gas layoffs, losing 39,900 jobs, or about 14 percent of the pre-pandemic industry workforce. Louisiana lost 12,300 jobs, or 25 percent, while Oklahoma lost 10,700 jobs, or 19 percent of its oil and gas workforce.

BW Research said it expects that oil and gas employment will continue to decline in the near future as the number of U.S. coronavirus cases keeps rising, further restricting the nation’s economic output. The research group used employment data from the Bureau

of Labor Statistics for its analysis.

Although the U.S. energy sector added 5,800 jobs in July, there are still more than 1.1 million energy workers in oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear, power generation, transmission, motor vehicles and fuels who are out of work nationally. At the current pace of job growth, it would take more than 16 years to recover the energy jobs lost since February, BW Research said.