Venezuela oil industry suffers as skilled employees leave for better pay

Venezuela did not need any more bad news. The country's economy is tanking with an inflation rate of more than 60 percent, not to mention currency plummeting in value and a spike in crime rates. But there is more bad news: its oil and gas industry account for about 25 percent of the country's economy and vastly underpaid employees are leaving for better-paying jobs elsewhere. What was once a flourishing industry is hurting. Pay for engineers in Venezuela's oil fields is less than what would be $400 a month in U.S. dollars, less than 10 percent of the global average for that position, according to a report in Bloomberg. A few short years ago, engineers were being paid at rates much closer to the global average. A website that helps Venezuelans relocate, MeQuieroIr.com, saw an increase in page views of more than three times the average of the last four years. More…