High-paying engineering and geologist positions in oil and gas have felt the impact of President Donald Trump’s policies, according to the Wall Street Journal, with the price of oil dropping and sparking recession fears.

The outlet reports that oil giants like Chevron and BP are increasingly outsourcing valuable, high-paying white-collar jobs to countries with lower costs, such as India. 

Chevron in particular plans to cut 8,000 jobs, making up about 20 percent of its global workforce, and shift work to global centres in India. 600 new jobs are intended to begin in India by the year’s end, with skilled workers from the Asian country being paid just a fraction of what American workers get paid.

Speaking to the outlet, Connor Cabaniss, a senior petroleum engineering student at the University of Texas, said he and his classmates have expanded their job searches across the industry due to the uncertainty as the giants slow their hiring: “Even postelection, they still really don’t know what the market’s going to be like,” Cabaniss said.

High skilled positions in oil have slowed “dramatically,” reports the Wall Street Journal.

Following President Trump's tariff measures in early April, US oil prices dropped 12%, nearing $63 a barrel. This is likely to lead the industry to reassess its strategies. If prices stay around this level, fracking companies will need to reconsider their spending plans. 

India's natural-gas consumption is expected to grow by 60% by 2030, making it an attractive market for oil companies. Trump also recently touted a deal to increase US fossil fuel exports to India.

“The shift, alongside a string of mergers and cost-cutting, has thinned the companies’ ranks of skilled U.S. workers. It has also disrupted the industry’s pecking order, which for decades has been topped by specialized engineers whose positions were more insulated during oil busts," the Journal reports.

Chevron said in February that it would cut as many as roughly 8,000 jobs, or 20 percent of its global workforce, by the end of next year. That decision has prompted angst at its global headquarters in Houston, where many of its higher-paid skilled workers are based.” the outlet writes.

“Typically, that would have been a boom for the U.S.,” said Debbie Milks, COO of recruiting firm Brookwoods Group. “We’re not seeing that at all.”