| Rigs Gearing Up, Oilpatch Wants More Rural Workers • 3,000 Jobs to be Filled With a shortage of oilpatch workers in Western Canada looming—and in particular Alberta, the president of the Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors (CAODC) says an advertising campaign is underway to hire people. Rigs Gearing Up, Oilpatch Wants More Rural WorkersDon Herring told The News that “we believe there is a shortage (of workers) pending” as the industry readies to propel another 150 drilling rigs into operation. CAODC is looking for 3,000 positions in the West to be filled. Of that number about 70 percent is required in Alberta said Herring in a telephone conversation from his Calgary office. Provost is one of the areas that will see a lot of oilpatch activity this winter he adds. The situation for attracting enough workers has never been this pressing before, explains Herring: from 1993 to 1997 employment gradually ramped up to a high level of activity. Prices fell in 1998 and the industry pulled in its horns—but now instead of three years of gradual hiring and training—thousands of people are suddenly needed to be hired in just a three month period. CAODC’s advertising campaign includes community newspapers (as well as this one) across Alberta and into Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta. The six week ad campaign will also try to draw people from the Maritimes. Herring says that they picked rural areas to advertise in and notes that they are looking for young, physically fit people to work outdoors. “In an economy running as hard as this one in Alberta there are opportunities for these very same people in other industries.” Other industries like construction, forestry and mining want those workers and “that’s the nub of our problem. The solution is to try some advertising across Western Canada and the Atlantic provinces to let them know we do have some opportunities.” Currently there are about 400 rigs operating with 8,000 to 9,000 workers in Western Canada. There is a total fleet of 600 rigs with likely another 150 rigs soon to be running this winter and that’s why the extra workers are being sought. Winter still appears to be the best time for drilling for oil and gas but CAODC wants to talk to some of its customers about spreading the work out during the year. If there are good roads it is usually practical to drill nearby in the summer months as well. Some starting jobs now being offered pay $16 per hour plus overtime. A rig floor worker can expect $18.40 per hour and $27.70 for a driller, says Herring. The shifts are 12 hours so four of those hours then kick into overtime—increasing the $18.40 per hour rate to $27.60 for those extra hours. Traditionally rig workers have worked two weeks on the job followed by one week off but this year they will be asked to work for three weeks on followed by a week off. That means “some fairly serious overtime” pay. In addition many of those rig workers are paid $95 per day for lodging and food. Herring sees the same problem (lack of workers) for the balance of this year and into 2001—and possibly beyond because of a robust economy in Western Canada and Ontario.
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