Oil + gas industry is losing its appeal to Gen Z employees

The youths don’t want to work for oil and gas:Undergraduates enrolling in US petroleum engineering courses have fallen to 3.9k in 2023 from over 7k in 2019, increasing industry execs’ concerns about populating the industry’s future workforce, the Financial Times says.

Why isn’t Gen Z interested?It’s a perception problem. Social media has raised environmental literacy dramatically during Gen Z’s lifetime, with a recent poll finding that 62%found a career in this field to be unappealing. Some 78% of the current global population believes that environmental sustainability is important, with the percentage going even higher among Gen Z and millennials.

Oil and gas giants have been trying to rehabilitate their image by throwing money at the problem. In 2022, ExxonMobil donated USD 16.4 mn to universities worldwide, and Chevron established a job readiness program in the US to attract workers. Shell and BP have since started offering scholarships and apprenticeship programs, and — controversially — turned to social media influencers to help greenwash their products.

…but execs may have trouble recruiting because of the priority gap. Executives have been banking on the industry’s salary ranges to lure people in when the current generation’s desires lie beyond the paycheck. Alongside a livable wage, Gen Z prioritizes a good work-life balance, job stability, and most importantly — and most overlooked — a job that aligns with their principles.

It’s more complicated than a youth-led backlash against fossil fuels. The industry’s volatile employment practices are to blame, says Martin Blunt, an industry expert at Imperial College London. The industry’s practice of hiring and firing during boom and bust periods is a permanent trend that puts off undergrads looking for a stable career.

Are we in the twilight of the oil and gas industry? Ken Pereira, managing director of Hibiscus Petroleum, an oil and gas producer currently exploiting dwindling oil reserves in the North Sea, seems to think so. The impact of the aging workforce due to lack of interest by Gen Z will reportedly hit the industry in a decade, he told the Financial Times.