Oil job flow turns to trickle

…It’s much slimmer pickings this year for grads who just last year were fielding multiple job offers with plum salaries and signing bonuses. As oil and gas prices fell amid a global economic downturn access to credit was reduced, and energy firms are slashing exploration budgets, shelving major projects and starting to lay off staff.

This year, oil and gas firms are still recruiting on campus, but the jobs and offers are fewer. And with more students spilling into the work world than ever before, the competition is much tougher.

Facing soaring demand, Alberta’s universities have increased energy-related spaces in the past few years. Mr. Kukulski is part of the largest geology class to ever graduate from the University of Calgary.

When he and fellow classmate Janelle Irvine enrolled four years ago, the industry was just starting a major upswing. “By the time I was working last summer, things were still fantastic,” Ms. Irvine says. “The jobs were there, the opportunities were there, the companies were really willing to put us into training because they had those resources at the time.

“My dad had gone through the downs of the ’80s, so I was aware of the ups and down,” she says. “I did know it would happen eventually, he’d always warned me it would happen again. I was just hoping not so soon.”

Financial Post