The oil market turmoil brought on by Covid-19 has led to lower-than-anticipated activity and delayed projects, forcing the industry to deploy cost-cutting measures. A Rystad Energy analysis of the top 50 oilfield service (OFS) firms shows that staffing is set to reach its lowest level in more than 10 years, with the anticipated revenue per employee also declining towards the previous downturn’s level.
Rystad Energy tracks the permanent employee count of the top service companies, including reported permanent employees at year-end. Our analysis shows that the reduced staff levels in the OFS industry seen in 2016, after the previous downturn, have mostly been maintained since then at just over 760,000 employees, keeping a major cost driver – investment in human capital – at steady low levels.
However, the downsizing expected this year is likely to result in the OFS industry experiencing the lowest total headcount in over a decade, which we estimate will amount to about 610,000 employees.
HOUSTON - Research by the Petroleum Equipment and Services Association (PESA) found that employment in the oilfield services and equipment (OFS) sector fell by nearly 15,000 jobs in May, bringing total job losses due to pandemic-related demand destruction to more than 84,000. OFS employment is down 105,000 jobs from May 2019 and now stands at its lowest point since 2016.
Using Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data, PESA, in consultation with researchers from the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston, estimates OFS sector jobs in the U.S. dropped from 764,189 in February to 679,281 in May, a decline of 11.1%. Losses were heaviest in April, totalling 59,666 jobs.
