The oil glut is taking a toll on the prospects for 1,800 students in the U.S. graduating this year with bachelor’s degrees in petroleum engineering, reports Erin Ailworth in the Wall Street Journal. She reports on the plight of Walt Baker, who just graduated from the Colorado School of Mines with a B.S. in petroleum engineering after seven years in the U.S. Coast Guard. His employment offers in the petroleum industry disappeared in December.
Ailworth cites Houston consulting firm Graves & Co. as saying that energy employers have announced 120,000 layoffs worldwide. In addition, she reports, enrollment in U.S. petroleum engineering programs has skyrocketed from 3,700 students in 2008 to 11,400 this year.
The good news, Ailworth reports, is that some companies are hiring to replace retiring baby boomers. But some recent graduates are being offered lower salaries or are taking non-engineering positions.
As for those still in school, Ailworth quotes Jennifer Wisler, a 21-year-old Texas A&M senior and past president of the student chapter of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, as saying some sophomores are looking to transfer into mechanical engineering, adding, “I think the junior class is freaking out.” Wisler is headed to a job at Chevron.
Some students, including Baker, are pursuing graduate degrees. Ailworth quotes Brad Fisher, chief operating officer at Carrizo Oil & Gas, as saying, “I’d like to see kids come out of school with some business skills, project management.”
