Another round of layoffs hit the Texas energy industry early this week as manufacturers and service companies struggle with the global crude collapse.
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The largest private well completion company in North America, FTS International, laid off 194 employees from its Bryan location last week.
“Although this closure affects a small percentage of our total workforce of approximately 4,000 employees, we do regret that current circumstances have resulted in this impact on our people.”
he Texas Workforce Commissions also confirmed that Lufkin Industries removed 149 workers in February and March. The company designs, manufactures and services equipment for the oil field.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas conducts a monthly survey of manufacturing executives and the responses confirm that low crude prices are causing a slowdown in the state’s factories. According to a recent survey of 112 Texas manufacturers, the production index fell in March and manufacturers were pessimistic about broader business conditions. A majority of executives reported a decrease in new orders, increased layoffs and falling prices for prices for finished goods.
“Our oil and gas customers have just stopped producing,” one executive from the fabricated metal manufacturing sector responded. “This is not an unusual event for our oil and gas customers, but what feels different about this time is no one knows when production will restart. Typically we have to ride out 60 to 90 days, and this one looks like six months or more.”
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