How soon will industrial paleontology jobs be available?
Immediately! In fact, the aging community of currently employed industry paleontologists will need to be replaced over the next twenty years suggesting that merely to meet the current demand industry must begin hiring now. Figure 11 shows the age of the currently employed North American paleontologists. Although the current sampling is small, the demographics will not change significantly with additional reports. The average age of both consultants and oil-company paleontologists is in the late forties with most retiring in the next twenty years. Figure 11 University geoscience departments report a dramatic increase in visits by recruiters, and recruiters report a shortage in all disciplines needed for the petroleum industry. Students specializing in stratigraphic paleontology especially are in short supply. Some companies have begun to provide contract work for graduate students as encouragement toward future employment with the sponsoring company. • Are the petroleum industry jobs li
