February 2008 Editor's Letter
Workforce Supply Issues
by Steve Earle
Much has been written about the looming personnel gap in the oil and gas industry as the large group that entered the workforce in the late 70s and early 80s begins to leave it. Or in corporate-speak, the “demographics problem.” I won't bore you with more facts, just offer some vignettes as a focus for thought.
The departure of key personnel took a more personal note for me as an active AAPG member and friend, Ben Hare, passed away recently. (See “Remembrance” on page 43.) Ben served on a number of important committees at his alma mater, the University of Oklahoma, and at AAPG, including chair of the Reserves Committee. He will be greatly missed by those of us who knew him.
The flip side of the issue is the group of energetic budding explorationists coming up. The second of our Sheriff Lecture Poster Award winners is a very nice field study of a Catahoula channel complex on page 33. All the student posters were well done and this bright group is very encouraging for our industry. Predictably all the major oil companies have reinstituted their training programs to help get their new recruits up to speed. Yet despite these promising signs, the number of students who are US citizens is distressingly small. How this may relate to our immigration policies I’ll leave as an exercise for the reader.
Several people smarter than I have already raised the issue of how few young people here are choosing to enter engineering and science studies. That situation does not portend good things for our industry. I have a nephew who has good aptitude in math and science subjects. He is a freshman in college this year—and he's majoring in creative writing to become a Hollywood scriptwriter. He's hardly alone.
After years of effort by many folks, Texas finally agreed to add earth science to its high school science curriculum. Considering that oil and gas revenues directly or indirectly built most of the schools in this state, it is amazing that it took so long. Please check out Alison Henning’s “Maps in Schools” article on page 39 to see what the HGS and GCAGS are doing to encourage the study of geoscience. However, the quality of any science program is hardly guaranteed. See the section titled “Texas Science Board Ouster over Creationism” of the “Government Update” on page 49. I encourage you to also read Marsha Bourque’s “Letter to the Editor” on page 11. Unless you get to know your schools and school boards, at both the local and state levels, and let them know your views, then what gets taught as science may or may not reflect what you would envision for our kids.
This is the point where I'm supposed to tie this all together with a grand scheme to make everything better. Truth is, we've managed to work ourselves into a difficult spot and getting out will require effort on multiple fronts, some creative thinking, tough decisions and a little luck. Let me know what you think should—or shouldn't—be done, especially how the HGS can make a difference.