Job prospects Roughneck in British Columbia

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "roughneck" in British Columbia or across Canada.

Job opportunities in British Columbia

These outlooks were updated on November 29, 2023.

Prospects over the next 3 years

The employment outlook will be very limited for Oil and gas drilling, servicing and related labourers (NOC 85111) in British Columbia for the 2023-2025 period.

The following factors contributed to this outlook:

• Employment decline will lead to the loss of some positions.
• Not many positions will become available due to retirements.
• There are several unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.

Here are some key facts about Oil and gas drilling, servicing and related labourers in British Columbia:

• Approximately 650 people worked in this occupation in May 2021.
• Oil and gas drilling, servicing and related labourers mainly work in the following sectors:
  • Support activities for mining, oil and gas (NAICS 213): 63%
  • Construction (NAICS 23): 13%
  • Oil and gas extraction (NAICS 211): 12%
• The distribution of full-time and part-time workers in this occupation is:
  • Full-time workers: 89% compared to 78% for all occupations
  • Part-time workers: 11% compared to 22% for all occupations
• 35% of oil and gas drilling, servicing and related labourers work all year, while 65% work only part of the year, compared to 61% and 39% respectively among all occupations. Those who worked only part of the year did so for an average of 35 weeks compared to 42 weeks for all occupations.
• 8% of oil and gas drilling, servicing and related labourers are self-employed compared to an average of 17% for all occupations.
• The gender distribution of people in this occupation is:
  • Men: 94% compared to 52% for all occupations
  • Women: 6% compared to 48% for all occupations
• The educational attainment of workers in this occupation is:
  • no high school diploma: 22% compared to 8% for all occupations
  • high school diploma or equivalent: 52% compared to 28% for all occupations
  • apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma: 17% compared to 13% for all occupations
  • college certificate or diploma or university certificate below bachelor's: 6% compared to 17% for all occupations
  • bachelor's degree: less than 5% compared to 22% for all occupations
  • university certificate, degree or diploma above bachelor level: less than 5% compared to 12% for all occupations

Breakdown by region

Explore job prospects in British Columbia by economic region.

Source Labour Market Information | Prospects Methodology