When Anadarko acquired Union Pacific Resources Group of Fort Worth last summer, it offered jobs to all 800 employees of Union Pacific. The company now has 3,600 to 3,700 employees, including an extra 665 that were added since the Union Pacific acquisition last summer, said Richard A. Lewis, vice president of human resources for Anadarko, the world's largest independent oil and gas company. Highly skilled blue-collar workers are also in great demand to get the oil and gas out of the earth. Mike Kneale, vice president of GreyStar Corp., said he is constantly looking for production operators, mechanics and instrument technicians to man the producing platforms it runs for oil and gas producers. Employees typically work one week on and one week off.
Several employees run their own businesses on their off weeks.
One has become a successful dog breeder, and another sells Cajun spice mixtures. All that demand for workers in the energy industry has put employees in the driver's seat. At Texaco, which is bracing for cutbacks after it merges with Chevron later this year, employees don't seem to be too nervous about finding new jobs. An employee in Texaco's finance section seemed surprised that he was even asked by a reporter whether he was feeling confident. With the way the industry is going, it should be easy to find another job, he said, asking not to be identified.