Eagle-Ford employers find shortage of workers

Houston Chronicle:

Employers in the Eagle Ford shale say there’s a desperate need for truck drivers to haul water, sand and oil. But they’re having trouble filling those jobs because too many applicants fail drug tests and background checks.

They want to get the word out that anyone with a commercial driver’s license who can pass the tests is pretty much guaranteed a job, Manuel Ugues, business services director at Workforce Solutions of the Coastal Bend said at the second meeting of the Eagle Ford Task Force Wednesday.

The meeting was held at Coastal Bend College.

Workforce Solutions polled 10 employers in the Eagle Ford shale, and they reported that one out of every four applicants fails a company’s screening, Ugues said.

There are no easy solutions to finding good employees, task force members agreed, but Kirk Spilman, asset manager in San Antonio for Houston-based Marathon Oil, said his company has had good luck hiring former military people. “We’re proud of the recruitment from the military. We just hired seven people, and they’re very disciplined,” he said.

But Spilman added that qualified job applicants for his industry, especially in South Texas, aren’t likely to file applications online.

“You need a job fair,” said Glynis Strause, dean of institutional advancement at Coastal Bend College.

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I suspect there are several trained drivers who have left the military. They probably would like a job where they do not have to worry about IEDs. The job situation is a result of energy companies drilling and exploiting a shale oil formation. Imagine what would happen to US unemployment if these companies were allowed to drill in other shale formations or in off shore areas.