CALGARY – It’s an anxious time for students entering the energy industry. There are about 8000 students enrolled in various trades programs at the Southern Alberta Institute of Techology.
Many fourth year electrical students at SAIT already work for oil and gas companies. The question is – for how long?
Welder Mike Paterson already lost his job with an oilfield fabrication company Monday. He’s moving back in with his parents.
“My phone rings calling me upstairs and he’s like ‘well we have to lay you off because the company we’re building units for got skittish because the oilfields are so down right now that they just pulled their contracts.’”
Earlier this week, Suncor announced it’s laying off a thousand contract employees.
Todd Hirsch, Chief Economist with ATB Financial, suggests unemployment in Alberta could rise from 4.5% to 6% before recovering.
“Every day we see these oil prices low, and every week this drags on. I think we can anticipate some more layoffs.”
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