There’s a new opportunity for Albertans hit by the ups and downs of the energy industry.
A Calgary company that’s been growing during the COVID-19 pandemic is now recruiting oil and gas workers.
Cask Global Canning Solutions sells its beverage canning systems in 67 countries all over the world.
“Most recently (we’ve added) Laos, Germany and Saudi Arabia,” Cask CEO Russell Love said. “So it’s very exciting.”
Cask is now hiring to meet the growing demand, looking to add as many as 25 people by Christmas.
The company is doing much of its recruiting from Alberta’s energy sector.
A third of its current workforce of 75 already comes from the industry.
“Oil and gas, the technical rigor required in a lot of places, is very transferrable into our engineering team or into our service team,” Love said.
A member of Cask’s service team, Calen Blondal, came from the energy sector.
‘I didn’t even realize my skill set would transfer over,” Blondal said.
Blondal was in oil and gas for more than a decade before joining Cask in October 2020.
“Oil and gas can be a tough gig — the day the market drops down, you feel it and then there’s nothing coming down the pipe,” Blondal said. “And then the oil price is good, we are (very busy) and I’m never home, so it’s very ebb and flow and very unpredictable.”
Love also worked in the energy industry, a chemical engineer for 10 years after he graduated from university.
“If you’re in your mid-30s right now, you’ve been through two or three boom-bust cycles with oil and gas and you’ve seen the rounds of layoffs,” Love said.
Blondal is glad he shifted to his current position.
“Here, the work-life balance is infinitely better,” Blondal said. “If I’m going away, it’s scheduled now, instead of, ‘Hey, you’re going a 10-hour drive tonight, you’d better pack up and go.'”
Cask anticipates steady expansion in the years ahead.
“We’re seeing lots of growth in cider, cold brewed coffees, in kombuchas,” Love said.
Love said that even with a recent rebound in commodity prices, long-term oil and gas growth remains uncertain.
“This might be a boom of one year, two years, three years and when’s the next drop come?” Love said. “If you’re tired of that boom-bust cycle, we are looking for people who are in it for the long term, not just to make hay while the sun shines.”