Workforce Development

U.S. plastics, rubber manufacturing faces declining workers, lower productivity in 2023

Jul 11, 2023

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released in mid-2023 data related to employment in manufacturing of plastic, synthetic filaments and rubber products that showed that the number of workers in those activities fell in recent years, including so far in 2023...

U.S. plastic resin production plants less crowded in 2023 but pay increases likely

May 23, 2023

Employment in U.S. plastic resin production declined from 60,400 positions in Sep. 2022 to 58,200 in February 2023, according to figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics republished by the American Chemistry Council.

Dow to cut 2,000 jobs citing 2023 challenges to profit; LyondellBasell separately reports margin improvements as some new resin capacity sees slow start

May 10, 2023

Dow, one of the world´s biggest petrochemical companies and based in Midland, Michigan, has resorted to the elimination of 2,000 positions this year as the company faces challenges including the consequences of lower polyethylene profit margins in 2023...

Worker availability for new petrochemical projects tight with some construction materials in short supply

Apr 24, 2023

The availability of workers to help build new petrochemical plants or participate in maintenance work is seen early in the second quarter of 2023 as tight, with some key construction materials also in short supply.

New specialty plastic companies follow recent U.S. large resin commodities capacity expansion

Mar 6, 2023

After over a decade of investment in North America to take natural gas from shale deposits to build plastic resin plants able to churn out hundreds of thousands of tonnes of pellets, another significant development a bit further downstream the American oil...

Rail union member: more staff, shorter trains may prevent chemical cargo derailments

Feb 20, 2023

The Feb. 3, 2023 derailment of about three dozen rail cars, including five with vinyl chloride monomer (an intermediate for PVC), along the Ohio River, the biggest tributary of the Mississippi by volume, and the ensuing fire for about five days forcing a town...

Oil-rich Guyana builds entirely new downstream industry including refinery, power plant

Dec 20, 2022

The government of Guyana, that has seen within the past two decades an increase in per-capita income of over five times thanks to new hydrocarbon developments, announced in late 2022 that it has taken steps to develop a downstream oil and gas industry...

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