I have been looking at the job posting websites North Dakota Job Services, Indeed, Careerbuilder, Monster, Rigzone, and LinkedIn almost every day in April and May.  There are very few jobs listed for Dickinson, Watford City, and Williston.  April and May are the busiest hiring months in Western North Dakota.

There are usually several job listings for registered nurses, CDL drivers with at least two years experience, and mechanic field service technicians.  About every other week there is a listing for a journeyman electrician, or a heavy equipment operator.

I would estimate that there are 30% to 40% fewer job listings for Dickinson in April and May of 2017, than there were in April and May of 2016.

I would estimate that there are 60% fewer job listings for Dickinson in April and May of 2017, than there were in April and May of 2015.

I want to warn everyone in Dickinson what I think is going to happen.  The construction workers, electricians, equipment operators, mechanics, oil field service workers, plumbers, truck drivers, and welders that are currently employed in Dickinson, will keep their jobs through December of 2017.  Then there will be a winter work slow down like there always is, with reduced work hours and lay offs.  However, I believe that at least 20% of these workers will not have a job to return to in Dickinson in the spring of 2018.  There will not be enough work in Dickinson.

Any of the workers in these trades can go look at every job posting website that they can find, and they will see that there are very few job listings for these trades in Dickinson, Watford City, and Williston.  They have got to realize that there is not a high demand right now, in the busiest hiring months, and that there has been a steady decline in demand for these trades in Dickinson since 2014.

Everyone in Dickinson needs to know what is happening now, so that they can figure out what they are going to do.  Retail workers, restaurant workers, sales people, service workers, and professional workers need to realize that there will be a decline in demand for workers in their professions in Dickinson.

I recommend that everyone in Dickinson try to save money now and conserve money now through the remainder of 2017, with the expectation that at least 1 out of 5 people will lose their job in Dickinson in 2018.

I recommend that even if you have a job now in Dickinson, that you begin thinking about, and doing research about where else you might try to live.  Talk to friends and relatives who live elsewhere about what things are like where they live.  Get information from people you know, but don’t just take their word for it, look on the internet at what jobs are available in different areas.

In doing research about different areas and what jobs are available, I caution readers that though it may look like Dallas has more job openings than Williston, you must realize that Dallas has a population of 1 million people, and Williston has a population of about 20,000 people.  There might be several hundred applicants for a job in Dallas, whereas there might be forty applicants for a job in Williston.

I wrote a couple of blog posts on this website about “How To Go To Work Out Of State” about eight months ago.  In those blog posts, I suggested that if your family has a home, friends, and relatives here, it may be a better idea for the primary income earner to go to work out of state, and let the family stay behind.

It is easier and safer for the father to go to work out of state by himself, and let the family stay behind.  It is much easier for one adult to get very cheap housing, housing that would not be safe or appropriate for a family.  When going to work out of state, you don’t know what your employer, co-workers, and work conditions will be like, and you may not be able to stay in your new job.  You may have to re-locate again unexpectedly, and it is much easier to do this if you are by yourself.