As the energy industry continues to grow, business executive Barry Davis said the high demand for engineers is affecting the market. “We can’t get enough people,” Davis said. “The workforce challenge is something that is facing all industries but probably none more than the energy business.”
Davis, president and chief executive officer of Dallas-based Crosstex Energy, spoke Wednesday to a group of students and teachers at the Energy, Coast and Environment Building. In 1996, Davis helped start Crosstex Energy, an independent energy services company that offers supplies and services to natural gas producers and consumers. Davis was the first speaker in the Energy Leadership Forum, an event the Center for Energy Studies hosts each quarter. David Dismukes, associate director at the Center for Energy Studies, said the forum aims to cultivate leaders in the energy industry. “The energy industry has changed,” Dismuke said. “It’s certainly a great opportunity for young graduates that are thinking about careers.” He said the demand for engineers in the industry is significant. Davis said the average age of workers in the energy industry is 52, and in 10 years, half of the industry will reach retirement age. “There’s this demographic hole,” Dismuke said. “Where a lot of people from the baby boomers are retiring and the people coming in are in less numbers.” Micheal Leblanc, director of operations for Crosstex Energy in Louisiana, said jobs were hard to come by 25 years ago because the industry was spiraling downward. He said today, it is just the opposite. “There’s a struggle to get people,” Leblanc said. “The outlook is just incredulous.” Dismukes said there are more openings in the industry than there are people to fill them. “A lot of it is just people not getting into the engineering and sciences field,” Dismukes said. The percentage of college students receiving a bachelor’s degree in science or engineering has remained steady since 2000, only increasing half a percent from 31.8 percent, according to the National Science Foundation Web site.
—-Contact J.J. Alcantara at [email protected]