Companies scramble to hire engineers by Delia Cruceru

A new crisis is on its way: there is a world wide lack of petroleum and gas engineers. Now when an engineering student graduates, he won't have to ask himself "now what?" or wondering where he will find something to work. Companies are now prospecting universities and colleges to find proper future engineers as the world wide energy demand grows and experts are needed. Two students, that participated at the sponsored recruitment program of Royal Dutch Shell's U.S. arm, Emily Reasor from Cornell University and Julie Arsenault from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said: "We've talked to quite a few of my peers, and we know we're in a good spot. It's nice to know we're needed." The oil and gas companies forecasted a shortage of petroleum engineers through at least 2011 and according to the American Petroleum Institute, the U.S. energy companies will need at least another 5,000 engineers by decade's end. "I can assure you, it's tight from a supply standpoint, hot from a demand standpoint and lucrative from a job searcher's standpoint," said Cary Wilkins, leader of Shell's recruitment efforts in the U.S. and Canada. This shortage of engineers was caused by upsurge in exploration and a wave of retirements from baby boomers that have spent 25 to 30 years on the job, and also because of the industry's reputation as an unreliable employer.

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070902/ap_on_bi_ge/engineering_shortage;_ylt=AhybwN.I7vrIXQq2LKM7C6as0NUE

by Delia Cruceru for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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