Pennsylvania's Share Of Marcellus Shale Jobs Declines

• Marie Cusick
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  Marie Cusick was the Harrisburg reporter for StateImpact Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania’s share of jobs in the Marcellus Shale has declined since last year, according to numbers released this week by the Marcellus Shale Coalition, a gas industry trade group.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has more:

State residents accounted for 56.8 percent of new hires among drillers, pipeline companies and contractors in the Marcellus Shale Coalition. That’s down from 72 percent the year prior, according to annual surveys the group does of its workforce.
Regional trends are working against Pennsylvania. Drilling rigs have left parts of the state for gas fields in Ohio, which contributed 19 percent of the new workforce in 2012, up 6 percentage points. Pennsylvania also has shifted to more pipeline work and doesn’t have the skilled welders that sector needs, said the coalition’s John Augustine.
“It’s kind of like shale 101 happening again,” said Augustine, who coordinates the coalition’s workforce committee that surveyed 101 companies. “Four years ago, we saw the same trend with (drillers), and now we believe we’re seeing the same trend with the (pipeline) segment.”

The survey shows companies have the most trouble filling professional and management positions. There is also a significant gender gap. Over three quarters of the jobs are held by men.
The industry expects 4,000 new hires will be made in 2013, with the biggest share of jobs going to Southwestern Pennsylvania, followed by Ohio.

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