Companies, needing Permian workers, find West Texas a hard sell

...Isolation is far from the only issue recruiters must overcome as they try to convince qualified candidates to relocate to West Texas. Housing in the region is in short supply and prices are soaring. Schools are crowded, understaffed and performing poorly. Health care is woefully short of doctors. Crumbling roads and highways are jam-packed with heavy trucks and traffic. To fill one position, companies need to make at least 10 offers and pay premiums of 20 percent over salaries in other parts of Texas, oil industry analysts said. And still that might not be enough. Oil field jobs in the Permian start at close to $100,000 a year while an experienced truck driver can make close to $300,000 with overtime, analysts said. The Midland Chamber of Commerce estimates that at least 15,000 jobs are open at any given time, mostly in oil and gas. A job on a drilling or fracking crew takes maybe two months to fill, while engineering and management positions, which often involve relocating families, will sit vacant for several months, energy companies said...MORE