CHEYENNE – Various Wyoming agencies wasted no time Friday springing into action to help 465 coal mine workers who were laid off Thursday.
The job cuts at North Antelope Rochelle and the Black Thunder Mine in Campbell County are the most substantial single-day action in Wyoming's energy sector. But they also are part of an ongoing contraction of that job sector – and one that doesn't appear to be rebounding any time soon.
According to the state's Department of Economic Analysis, many former energy sector employees are leaving the state to find work in their field elsewhere. But for those still in Wyoming, opportunity still exists, says principal state economist Wenlin Liu.
The big problem, Liu said, is that it's going to be hard for a laid-off energy sector employee to find work that pays anywhere near as well as their previous job did, though there are sectors that could adapt their skill sets with relative ease.
"Given the fact that in coal mining the wage rate is around $ 80,000, any other service industry will be a big cut," Liu said. "They might have to go get some training and be willing to switch their occupations.
"But many of them do drive trucks around, so that may be (an opportunity to drive a) different type of truck or vehicle. That's something relatively close."
In Laramie County, Liu noted that public construction projects, such as the Capitol renovation, also could provide local fallbacks for ex-energy workers willing to resettle here.
"(This) is actually one of the better performing counties since our exposure to mining is relatively small," Liu said. "They're hiring quite a few workers for (the Capitol), and the closest (job sector some energy workers) can transfer to would be some type of construction."
But Liu also agreed that some of the more reliable construction subsectors – residential and industrial – have been slowing down. That complicates the picture for those who may seek careers shift here.
Shawn Reese is the chief executive officer for the Wyoming Business Council. He said one longer-term solution to the downturn in energy jobs is to try to pivot to new technologies and new uses for coal, oil and other such materials.
To that end, Reese said the council has been working on its own initiatives to bring energy work into the 21st century while also helping small businesses connect with potential employees coming off the energy downturn.
He pointed to one joint effort with Gillette, Sheridan and Buffalo.
Those communities are putting together a business recruitment effort that seeks to create a much larger labor force than any one community could bring to the table, Reese said.
The idea is that instead of competing with one another, the communities are combining assets to create a unified workforce they hope will attract companies from outside.
"Retention and expansion of existing business is also a large piece of our strategy," Reese said. "Those industries we are most interested in developing are those we call 'the advanced industries.' They often have a technological component, but they may not be technology jobs like software development."
As coal becomes increasingly unpopular as a global fuel source, Reese said it's incumbent on businesses to find other uses for it. That's where he sees ex-energy employees playing a key role.
"There are a number of sectors we are focused on growing, and a lot of their skill sets are relevant," he said. "Those sorts of industries certainly include the extractive industries, but we're also looking at petroleum and coal products – pesticides and fertilizers, machinery manufacturing.
"There (also) are products and are technologies we need to build economic development plans around such as activated carbon, carbon fiber, a host of products that will position us for an advanced carbon economy."
Reese said skills training will be critical to anyone seeking to pivot from mining. And Wyoming's educational institutions, particularly community colleges, will play an important role in that.
Jim Rose is the executive director of the Wyoming Community College Commission. He said:
"All of our colleges are accustomed to responding to regional and community needs and the need of the state for a workforce that can adapt and potentially be an asset in terms of the diversification of our economy."
And even as agencies like the Department of Insurance and Workforce Services work to help laid-off workers with immediate needs, Rose said the colleges may help be the bridge to the jobs they will work at in the future.
"We're trying to work now to see what, in the immediate future, we need to put in place (to help re-train them)," Rose said.
"The response you may see will be different in Laramie County versus Campbell County. But they are very regionally situated in that some of the things they do are very much connected to their surrounding communities."
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