Shale Jobs Won’t Top Pre-Pandemic Levels Until 2027, Rystad Says

The recovery of the shale patch workforce is still years in the making despite the frothy profits that rallying crude prices are generating for US oil companies and their contractors.

Employment in the US oil and gas industry is expected to jump 12.5% this year to 971,000, according to Rystad Energy. But it will take another half decade before employment in the region tops pre-pandemic levels, according to new research from the industry consultant. Workers will have to wait until 2024 to see double-digit annual wage hikes. Pay this year is expected to climb 2.9%, according to Rystad.

Oil companies are hesitant to boost wages dramatically ...