H-E-B VAULTS TO HOUSTON’S TOP EMPLOYER.
Houston may be the energy capital of the world, but the region’s largest employers are dominated by health care and retail companies.
Hospital systems, including Memorial Hermann, Houston Methodist and Texas Children’s, employ a combined 167,000 workers across the Houston area. Major retail and restaurant chains, such as H-E-B, Landry’s and Whataburger, employ a combined 143,000 employees in the region.
By contrast, major energy companies employ about 91,000 employees in the area, according to a survey of employers by the Houston Chronicle.
H-E-B tops this year’s Chronicle list of the largest employers, overtaking Walmart for the No. 1 spot.
The San Antonio grocer, which ranked No. 3 on last year’s Chronicle list, employs nearly 32,000 workers locally, up from 27,000 workers last year.
The Texas grocer, which opened a half-dozen stores last year, is followed among the grocers by Walmart and Kroger with 31,000 and 16,000 employees respectively.
Hospital systems comprise half of the 10 largest employers on the Chronicle 100 list.
Memorial Hermann is the largest hospital system locally with 28,770 employees, followed by Houston Methodist (25,844), The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (22,499), HCA Houston Healthcare (16,427) and Texas Children’s (13,415).
Still big
Although oil and gas companies employ fewer employees locally than health care or retail, energy companies account for nearly a third of the region’s the largest employers, according to the survey.
Exxon Mobil is the largest energy company locally with 15,818 employees, followed by Schlumberger (10,945) and Shell (8,005).
The economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic will likely have an impact on next year’s Chronicle list of the largest Houston employers.
Companies are still laying off workers while the recent surge in COVID-19 cases threatens to deal another blow to the struggling economy, consumer spending and energy demand.
Oil and gas companies have laid off nearly 100,000 employees nationally this year as crude prices plunged along with demand for gasoline and jet fuel.
Several retail, hotel and restaurant chains have furloughed and laid off tens of thousands of employees.
Some companies, however, have hired thousands of workers to meet the growing demand for home supplies and delivery services.
H-E-B and Kroger earlier this year began hiring stockers, checkers and baggers to handle the surge in grocery demand.
As state economies have reopened, some companies are slowly rehiring workers.
Constant change
Landry’s, which ranked No. 12 among the largest Houston employers with 11,900 employees, said it has rehired 90 percent of its furloughed workers nationally. About 80 percent of more than 600 restaurants have reopened, but some states are now rolling back reopening plans as coronavirus cases have spiked.
Indoor dining is still banned in California, New Jersey and New York, and restaurant capacity is capped at 50 percent in Texas.
Landry’s CEO Tilman Fertitta said it’s most important to maintain social distance and wear masks, but added the changing regulations has complicated plans to reopen and bring back employees.
“It’s extremely difficult because they change it on us every day,” Fertitta said.
Although oil and gas companies employ fewer employees locally than health care or retail, energy companies account for nearly a third of the largest employers.