Marcellus drilling jobs boom with few Pa. takers

More than 1,200 new Marcellus Shale natural-gas wells have been drilled in Pennsylvania this year. Because each well requires many workers to build and operate, there's no shortage of new jobs in the drilling regions - at least a certain kind of job.

The problem is that not enough high school graduates from southwestern Pennsylvania want the jobs, allowing workers from the nation's oil-rich South to capitalize on Pennsylvania's bustling new industry.

State Rep. Brandon Neuman (D., North Strabane) hopes to change that, in part by reaching out to the guidance counselors who have a role in helping students plan their futures.

Neuman hosted a Youth Jobs Forum at the Western Area Career and Technology Center in Canonsburg on Thursday to bring together high school guidance counselors, training service programs, trade schools, and representatives from the gas and oil industry. His goal is to help bridge the gap between high school graduates who don't plan to go to college and what he considers "family-sustaining careers" that drilling in the Marcellus Shale has brought to the region.

"I've talked to a lot of grandparents who are upset that their grandchildren have to move to find a job," he said. "We want to change that perception. We want to make sure that the jobs in Washington County go to people who live in Washington County, or at least Pennsylvania."

But guidance counselors say the jobs are a hard sell.

At Washington High School in Washington, about half of the 100 or so students who graduate each year are bound for four-year universities, counselor Marie Montecalvo said.

That may not be the best choice for all of them. Many students end up dropping out or watching their loans pile up as they jump from one major to the next.

And among the students who do not pursue college, counselors said, some families depend on the immediate income that their children bring in from fast-food or other entry-level jobs and cannot afford to send them off for training.

Another barrier is the perception of oil and gas jobs as risky and dangerous. Although many jobs, such as mining and drilling, can be hazardous, not all of the industry's workers are handling heavy machinery or otherwise taking on risk.

Office clerks, bookkeepers, accountants, and customer service representatives were among a list of Marcellus Shale jobs listed in a report released by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry this month. Education requirements for the jobs range from a Ph.D. to a high school diploma.

Representatives from training programs, such as Southwest Training Services of Washington, said the problem they face when steering students toward the gas industry is the students are often blinded by the salary - Marcellus Shale workers are paid an average $76,000 a year, according to the Labor Department report - and fail to recognize that it takes hard work and long hours.

Joseph Iannetti, director of the Western Area Career and Technology Center, said his vocational training graduates had an advantage that many four-year college graduates do not: no student loans and high placement rates.

He said the first Marcellus Shale training program that his school hosted had a 100 percent placement rate at the height of the recession.