The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers estimates the nation’s oil-and-gas sector lost 100,000 direct and indirect jobs in 2015. Now, many of the workers with industrial skills who moved to the Alberta oil patch for high-paying energy work are looking for work in other provinces and sectors. But the energy crash has hurt overall construction in some areas, and observers wonder if work-culture differences remain an obstacle.

Some say the trend could help to fill vacant construction jobs in North America as infrastructure, commercial and institutional sectors still drive strong demand for construction workers. In Texas, contractors are expanding their head counts amid oil and gas layoffs, says Associated General Contractors San Antonio chapter President Doug McMurry.

Labor research firm BuildForce Canada (BFC) last month estimated that, assuming current oil prices continue, Alberta could lose 31,000 construction jobs by 2019, with retirements pushing added worker losses. Researchers see a short-term bright spot in commercial construction, lasting through this year.

BFC执行董事罗斯玛丽·斯帕克斯（Rosemary Sparks）表示：“来自艾伯塔省的工业劳动力高技能和流动性，因此，他们将是其他省份工业工作的好候选人，或者在某些情况下甚至是国际上。”她指出，邻近省份的建筑工作数量可以帮助新近的失业者，并补充说：“只要对公用事业的需求类似，油气领域的许多建筑工人就会具有相似的工业技能。”

In Alberta’s neighboring Manitoba, power and infrastructure projects will boost construction employment to a new peak over the next few years, stretching a 10-year construction expansion to 2018, BFC says. “We also think there will be opportunities for oil workers to work on several proposed natural-gas export projects in British Columbia,” Sparks says.

Sparks说，对曼尼托巴省和其他省份的需求可能有助于缓解石油和天然气的失业率，但不足以抵消石油工人的释放。尽管如此，主要交易中的劳动力短缺仍在进行中，包括重型设备运营商和机械师，具有特定技能和经验的压力焊工和管道武装人员。Sparks说，艾伯塔省目前的衰退比2008 - 09年经历的衰退更加“复杂”。

“有很多啊pportunities for workers in construction, even with the downturn in oil prices, because of the amount of megaprojects that are either underway or scheduled to start,” says Jay Edwards, an engineering and construction industry recruiter in Alberta.

McMurry says that, despite the impact of plunging oil prices on construction, the industry is inherently more stable and less cyclical. “That is one of the messages we have for oil-and-gas workers that might be laid off,” he says. “Construction offers a much more stable career, and there are a lot of opportunities out there right now.” While drivers and equipment operators have the most translatable skills, transferred workers still would need extensive training. “You’re not going to become a journeyman electrician overnight,” McMurry notes.

文化问题仍然存在。一些行业公司持怀疑态度，即油田工人可以习惯于没有“无限加班”的工作。爱德华兹说：“有些雇主对雇用石油工人感到紧张，因为他们再次离开石油价格后再次离开。”

石油和天然气部门中至少有一头公牛已经预测了今年的这种趋势。美国页岩石油生产商Continental Resources Inc.的首席执行官Harold Hamm最近几周被广泛报价，推测到2016年底，每桶油价将翻一番，达到60美元。HAMM指出了从水平钻井中的国内供应上升的指向和液压压裂。能源记者Bill Loveless说，自从上个月国会上个月取消了40年的美国石油出口限制以来，现在可以将供应出售给更广泛的全球市场。