‘Should’ve studied green tech’: Eco-Twitter dunks on oil industry graduates who can’t find jobs due to Covid

Environmentally minded social media users seized the opportunity to ridicule the less fortunate after the New York Times published an article on fresh college graduates unable to find jobs in the oil industry because of Covid-19.

In its Sunday article, the New York Times profiled several students and graduates – who studied subjects as varied as petroleum engineering, finance, and geology – who are now struggling to get a foot into the oil industry after it cut back on thousands of jobs amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“Oil companies have laid off more than 100,000 workers. Many businesses have closed refineries, and some have sought bankruptcy protection,” noted the Times, adding that many young people are now “no longer sure that there is a place for them in the industry.”

Though the students who spoke to the Times may have hoped to elicit sympathy, the paper’s readers and social media fans, including environmental activists, delighted in mocking their plight instead.

One journalist – who received over 30,000 likes – wrote that he was “howling” at the young people in question, while others called it“uplifting news” and even suggested those affected should learn to code. 

“I hate it when a pandemic disrupts my plans to bake the earth to death,” a user mocked.

“Maybe should’ve studied something with green technology,” commented another. 

The Covid-19 pandemic has hit the oil industry the world over, with oil futures at one point selling in negative territory due to lack of demand.

The Pulitzer-Prize winning energy author and IHS Markit vice chairman Daniel Yergin recently predicted that global oil demand will not recover until at least late 2021 or early 2022.

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