Texas Oil & Gas Jobs Decline
Former Eagle Ford oilfield workers turn to law enforcement after work in the oil patch dries up.
Related: The Eagle Ford Loses More Jobs
After months of low crude prices and tens of thousands of layoffs, many oilfield workers are scrambling to find other work and some are deciding on police work, according to the San Antonio Biz Journal.
At the height of the boom, it wasn’t uncommon to see police officers hanging up their guns for the better paying jobs in the oil patch. But these days, those lucrative jobs in the Eagle Ford have dried up and last year at least three former oilfield workers graduated from the Alamo Area Regional Law Enforcement Academy.
Police academy instructor Jose Robledo is not surprised to receive displaced workers from the oil industry, noting that law enforcement is steady work in an uncertain economy. In addition to the two oil field workers, Robledo said this past graduating class included a mix of ages, experiences and careers ranging from recent college graduates to ex-military personnel to mothers looking to start second careers.
The Alamo Regional Law Enforcement Academy moved into a new home last year after receiving some $2.5 million in donations. The new 20,700-square foot facility allows the to expand its operations to include more classrooms and training space. The facility also houses AACOG’s Homeland Security, Regional 9-1-1, and Criminal Justice Planning programs.
Nearly 100,000 U.S. workers lost their jobs in the oil and gas extraction and supporting segments between October 2014 and January this year. More than half of those were in Texas, according to statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor.