WASHINGTON – Energy industry representatives urged members of Congress to promote and educate women and minorities on the new job opportunities being created in the United States due to the ongoing boom in the energy sector.
According to a report by IHS Global, opportunities in the oil, gas, and petrochemicals industries are projected to grow over the next 20 years, driven by capital investment projects and job replacements for retiring baby boomers.
The report projects a total of nearly 1.3 million job opportunities over the 2010-2030 period.
Almost half of these jobs are occupations classified as skilled and semi-skilled blue-collar occupations, benefiting workers with a high school diploma and some post-secondary education. About one-fourth of the jobs would be in scientific and managerial positions.
African-Americans and Latinos will account for nearly one-third of these jobs in 2030. IHS also projected that African-American and Hispanic workers could make up nearly 20 percent of the management, business and financial job opportunities.
African-American and Latino workers accounted for 8 percent and 15 percent of total employment in the oil, gas, and petrochemical sectors in 2010, respectively.
Women accounted for 19 percent of jobs in the industry in 2010 and filled nearly one-third of the jobs added in the exploration and production of oil and natural gas segment during the first quarter of 2013. The report estimates that by 2030 the industry could add 185,000 more women to its ranks.
“Everyone can benefit from the expanded development of America’s energy and mineral resources and Congress should continue to advance policies that promote an all-of-the-above energy strategy for our nation,” Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources Chairman Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) said at a hearing recently.
Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.) said that the report, which was financed by the American Petroleum Institute, was just an advocacy piece for more drilling and argued that “more drilling would create more jobs and some of those jobs would go to minorities and women.”
“The largest job numbers in the report require a future where we’ve allowed new offshore drilling in the Atlantic and the Pacific, where we’ve removed restrictions on drilling in the lower 48…and it’s premised on opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge,” Holt said. “This looks like the same argument we’ve heard in other guises over and over again in this committee room. But this time is in the guise of focusing on certain demographics.”
Holt suggested that Congress should focus on how to get more diversity in the energy sector, particularly in managerial and professional positions.
Lynne Hackedorn, vice president of government and public affairs at Cobalt International Energy, told the panel it is very important for the nation to encourage young people, including women and minorities, to consider careers in the energy sector because of the stable and well-paid opportunities it offers.
Because of technological innovations in deep-water exploration and the new access to such areas in recent years, many jobs have been created in the last 10 years, which is often overlooked in the debate surrounding the energy industry, Hackedorn said.
Many of the panelists shared their stories of success in the energy sector and the challenges they faced as women and minorities.
Hackedorn started her career as a secretary for an oil and gas company. After completing a college degree, she worked as an onshore and offshore landman before climbing at Cobalt from secretary to vice president.
“It is vital that our nation’s young people, including young women and minorities, are encouraged to consider the abundant and diverse career opportunities that our industry provides so that they can prepare themselves for these exciting career opportunities,” Hackedorn said.
The report, however, noted that for minorities to take full advantage of the energy hiring boom, they will have to focus on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines in primary and secondary education and on college degrees that could meet the needs of the energy industry.
A report by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies estimated that blacks and Latinos comprise 8.7 percent of STEM workers.
In 2010, minorities made up roughly 35 percent of the population compared to their 26 percent share of energy sector employment. By 2030, the contrast increases as minorities are expected to account for 40-50 percent of the U.S. population compared with a 32 percent share of the energy sector’s employment.
Dale LeFebvre, founder and chairman of 3.5.7.11, a holding company that invests in minority-owned energy firms, said the current trajectory of employment in the energy industry would still leave women and minorities underrepresented at all levels and “severely underrepresented in the senior managerial, professional, board and ownership ranks.”
“The numbers may obscure the fact that both minorities and women are underrepresented in America’s energy sector today and will be in 2030, if we simply let current trends continue,” LeFebvre said. “America’s energy boom can be a transformation force on several fronts central to our nation’s future, including on job and broader economic opportunities for women and minorities.”
LeFebvre stressed the importance of mentoring and targeted outreach to increase diversity in the industry. LeFebvre said he went to college to become an electrical engineer, but after meeting an important mentor he became interested in private equity and the energy sector.
Kase Lawal, founder and CEO of CAMAC, one of the largest black-owned businesses in the U.S., said urgent steps are necessary to steer women and minorities from low-paying jobs into technical careers that have a high-income potential.
He said a diversified workforce brings a wider range of ideas, skill sets, and experiences and other contributions to the energy industry. Women and minorities comprise 73 percent of CAMAC’s workforce.
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) asked the panelists what Congress could do to encourage large multinational companies to increase diversity in its ranks.
Lawal said members of Congress could provide incentives to large energy companies that work with minority- and women-led companies and take an active role in preparing the next generation of energy-industry workers.
“We must do more to open up the energy industry to women and minorities.” Lawal said. “There can be no true global or U.S. economic progress without diversity and sincere inclusiveness.”
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