International oil and gas hiring on the rise amid overall job decline, says GlobalData

The oil & gas industry has seen a dip in active jobs (jobs open for hiring) in 2024, but hiring trends remain relatively better compared to pre-COVID levels. In 2024, countries with high job postings in the industry included the US, India, and the UK, while countries with high year-on-year (YoY) growth in job postings included Sweden and United Arab Emirates (UAE). However, there has been a noticeable increase in job opportunities from non-U.S. companies in locations outside of the U.S., according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Sherla Sriprada, Business Fundamentals Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “It is noteworthy that even though the U.S. continues to account for a majority of jobs posted by several key players, other countries across different continents are also seeing hiring activity by these companies. Interestingly, U.S.-headquartered companies are also seen posting good number of jobs in other nations. The U.S. accounts for a significant number of jobs but companies also seem to be looking to tap opportunities beyond the U.S. as well.”

Exxon and Chevron also saw a decline in job postings. Most of the job postings by these two companies were for the U.S. Meanwhile, they also posted a significant number of jobs for the Philippines, Argentina, and India locations. In 2024, Exxon posted 144 jobs in Bengaluru, India, and Chevron posted 58 jobs, where they have both set up offices.

Exxon is focusing on EM lithium products in the U.S. and lubes operations in Argentina, whereas Chevron is looking at supply and trading bulk operations in Argentina and complying with GHG/methane regulations in the U.S.

ExxonMobil’s LNG affiliate in India supports the upstream business and provides consultant services for other ExxonMobil upstream affiliates and conducts LNG market-development activities. In November 2024, the company posted “Senior Production Engineer (Oil & Gas)” role for supporting ExxonMobil’s global portfolio of deepwater, conventional, unconventional, and heavy oil assets. The role also looks at applying technologies for oilfield production optimization using data-driven or physics-based methods. 

The “Instrument and Electrical Reliability Engineering (I&E RE)” position in Chevron’s ENGINE Center (located in Bengaluru, India) provides instrumentation and electrical asset support to Chevron’s operational refineries and liquified natural gas (LNG) facilities.

Sriprada adds: “Employment trend analysis at Exxon and Chevron from GlobalData’s Company Filings Analytics Database also reveals that Exxon’s worldwide employee counts have declined over the last five years, while Chevron has seen an increase in 2023. However, Exxon U.S. employee counts have seen a marginal increase in 2023 while Chevron US employee counts had a much healthier growth.”