Education — Eagle Ford Shale News — Eagle Ford Shale Play

There are literally thousands of open Eagle Ford jobs in South Texas and the only thing holding the oil & gas industry back is skilled professionals. Many of the colleges in the area are developing specialized programs to help equip students with the skills needed to work in the oil & gas industry. It's just a start, but local colleges will be instrumental in making sure the industry can fill the 70,000+ jobs that will be created over the next 10 years. If you are considering a change in career or might want to further your education, visit our Eagle Ford Shale Oil & Gas Training and Education page to find colleges and degree programs near you.

Everyone from accountants to IT professionals to scientists need advanced degrees. Even truck drivers need a commercial license gained through hours of class.
"This industry does not just need short term workers, they need long term workers and they need people that are educated and trained," said Castaneda.
So the solution for many lies in going back to school. Local programs are working with the industry to develop students qualified to work. Two years of schooling might seem like a lot, but Castaneda says the jobs will be there for a while.

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There are thousands of Eagle Ford job openings across South Texas. The only obstacle is that the industry needs skilled and unskilled labor. Skilled labor means we need training and educational programs or we'll have to hire people from other parts of the country. Structural unemployment is an obstacle to coming out of the recession and we're no different in Texas. The San Antonio Manufacturers Association held a meeting on December 14, 2011 to address hiring needs in the area. The association is setting out to identify workforce needs for manufacturers. They hope to help develop programs to educate individuals to fill vacant manufacturing positions that are growing in number due to the Eagle Ford.

SAMA wants to provide the information from the Dec. 14 meeting to Workforce Solutions Alamo and Alamo Colleges so they can direct workers to possible training programs.
Creating training programs for newly needed skills takes time. Chavez said the National Association of Manufacturers is talking increasingly about the need for employers to train people on the job instead of waiting for skilled workers to apply.
Something has to happen. The economic recovery depends on it.