California’s oil, gas workers will find new jobs but need help: report

As California ramps up its transition away from fossil fuels, most oil and gas workers will be able to find work in other industries, a new report has found.

Two out of three oil and gas employees — 67 percent — are highly likely to find jobs in their current occupation but in a different sector, according to the report, released on Tuesday by the nonpartisan Gender Equity Policy Institute.

These workers will have no need for retraining, due to a high demand for their skills over the next decade, the report authors determined.

Meanwhile, all the remaining workers who are unlikely to find work within their occupation have skills that are transferable to similar roles without a need for retraining, according to the report.

Countering this optimism, however, the authors also estimated that more than 1 in 4 workers — 27 percent — will earn less in their new occupations. Meanwhile, they found that just 7 percent are expected to earn more.

“State and federal climate investments are set to create around four million new jobs in California in coming years,” Nancy Cohen, president of the Los Angeles-based Gender Equity Policy Institute, said in a statement.

“But as the transition away from fossil fuels advances, oil and gas jobs will decline — and we must make sure the impacted workers are not left behind,” she added. 

Ensuring an equitable transition will require California to make what Cohen described as “an affordable investment” in these employees.

Today, California’s oil and gas workforce includes 45,946 individuals — of whom 18 percent are employed in core oil and gas extraction and production jobs, according to the report.

About 37 percent have office jobs and 45 percent are employed in other production, construction or transportation roles.  Meanwhile, another 13,233 people hold executive and professional positions in these industries.

To ensure an equitable transition for members of the oil and gas workforce, the report authors suggest providing income subsidies of three years duration for each employee, plus relocation funds for those who might need to move.

Such support could be funded by the state of California for an annual cost of between $27.3 million and $68.9 million, according to the report. This range, the authors contended, differs from previous studies that put that cost between $358 million and $424 million.

The $27.3 million to $68.9 million range accounts for between one and three years of support for the approximately 8,100 workers who could face displacement into lower-paying jobs over the next 10 years.

“Our state has the resources to ensure that oil and gas workers land on their feet as we all say goodbye to fossil fuels,” Woody Hastings, energy program manager at The Climate Center, a California think tank, said in a statement.

“California can and must equitably transition workers, their families, and the communities that currently depend on oil and gas operations,” Hastings added.

The 2022 state budget has already allocated $40 million for a pilot oil and gas worker displacement fund, as well as $20 million to train workers to participate in well-capping of abandoned oil wells, according to the report.

Federal funding from the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the Inflation Reduction Act will also be supplementing these state-level investments, the authors noted.

Cohen, from the Gender Equity Policy Institute, stressed the need to implement plans for an equitable transition backed by transparent research.

“Support will be needed for some oil and gas workers, and to provide that, policymakers need clarity on who is at risk, and the best path available to support them,” she said.