Oil and Gas Pushes to Employ Talented Women

As the oil and gas industry works to recover from its years-long recession, the need to supply new and future projects with talented employees is growing. As companies in every sector of the industry search for talented employees, there is also a dramatic change taking place in the way oil and gas companies hire incoming professionals, and things will never look the same again.

The Numbers on Women in the Oil and Gas Industry

Until recent years, the number of women in oil and gas hasn’t been great. In fact, the industry has fewer women employed than the notoriously un-diverse tech sector. Experts explain that this imbalance isn’t entirely the fault of the oil and gas industry.

Managing Director at Energy Jobline, Hannah Peet says that companies should certainly invest in practices that lure in and retain talented women, though she concedes that “results show that females are still shying away from the technical oil and gas roles.”

That won’t be the case for long, though, if a series of initiatives from the oil and gas industry are able to meet their goals.

Get ‘Em While They’re Young

One of the keys to growing the diversity in the oil and gas industry is helping entice young women to pursue a career in oil and gas. To that end, the Colorado Petroleum Council has kicked off an event called Women Rocking the Rockies — a program that has hosted more than 300 young women between the ages of 16 and 22.

A series of seminars and dynamic public speakers are being enlisted to draw more young women into the industry in the coming years.

Retaining Capable Working Moms

Any woman working today knows that the old stereotype about choosing between a career and a family is complete BS. Some of the world’s biggest oil and gas companies  have finally caught on, as well. So, taking a cue from independent oil and gas companies throughout the nation, these oil and gas giants have implemented programs designed to retain women who want to raise a family.

For example, Shell recently announced that it would pay for 16 weeks of maternity leave for its employees across the globe.

Things Are Already Changing

It’s just common sense that you need people of every stripe in order to get the best cross-section of employees and ideas. The oil and gas industry has understood that basic premise for years, they’ve just need the capital to make it happen. Now that the industry is entering another boom period, oil and gas companies are taking the opportunity to make the industry stronger as a whole, and that begins with hiring and retaining more women.

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