Nearly all of the workers hired by the natural gas industry for jobs in the Marcellus and Utica shales in 2012 were residents of states in the region, according to a workforce survey conducted by the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC).

About one-third of the MSC’s member companies, 101 in all, participated in the organization’s survey. The MSC said that combined, the companies that participated in the survey have more than 13,000 employees. According to the survey, 98% of new hires lived in the Marcellus and Utica region. Specifically, 56.8% were residents of Pennsylvania, 19.0% were from Ohio, 12.7% were from West Virginia, 5.3% were from New York, and 2.0% were from Maryland. The remaining 4.2% that found jobs were hired from other states.

Equipment operations represented 29.8% of the jobs filled, followed by operations and maintenance at 20.3%. Other positions included commercial (13.2%), engineering and construction (10.8%), administration (8.4%), environmental health and safety (3.9%), land (3.6%), well services (3.3%), water management (1.9%), geology (1.3%) and purchasing (1.1%).

Nearly half of the companies polled said professional jobs were the hardest to fill (49%). Technicians (17%) were the second-hardest job to find qualified people for, followed by operators and executives (15% each) and business support (5%). Respondents added that the three biggest challenges to hiring workers were finding qualified talent, competition for talent, and finding employees willing to relocate.

The MSC said the companies that participated in the survey expect to hire about 4,000 new employees in 2013. More than 60% of respondents said they plan to add jobs in southwestern Pennsylvania, while about 35% said they would be hiring for jobs in northeast Pennsylvania, and about 27% in central Pennsylvania.

About 45% of respondents said new jobs would be created in Ohio, and about 40% said West Virginia would get new jobs. New York polled at just over 10%, while Maryland was about 2%. Engineering and construction jobs would make up just under 70% of new hires in 2013, followed by operations and maintenance (50%), administration (40%), environmental health and safety (40%) and well services (25%).

Meanwhile, researchers at Cleveland State University (CSU) found total employment growth in Ohio counties with significant shale resources is lagging behind sales activity, adding that job growth is hindered by several forces, including the price of natural gas liquids (NGL).

In a 36-page report, “Ohio Utica Shale Gas Monitor,” CSU researchers said total employment growth in the 15 counties characterized as having strong shale resources saw only a 0.1% increase in employment during 1Q2013, and moderate shale counties saw 0.2% growth. Elsewhere, weak shale counties saw a 0.1% decrease in employment, and non-shale counties saw a 1.6% decrease.

“This muted employment growth can be attributed to several factors,” said Edward Hill, dean of CSU’s Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs and co-author of the report. “Ohio’s workforce is still being trained and prepared to work within the oil and gas industry.” Hill added that as midstream development “continues and improves market access over the next several years, production numbers are predicted to continue rising and associated job growth will continue to accompany these developments.”

But the CSU study also said NGL prices, as well as prices for dry gas and methane, were critical to shale development in Ohio. “The excitement over the Utica Shale in Ohio is based on the limited presence of oil in the formation and the much more extensive presence of NGLs,” Hill said. “However, the degree to which the presence of NGLs changes the mid-term economic landscape of Ohio depends in no small part on where the NGLs are processed.”

CSU considers 15 Ohio counties as strong shale counties: Belmont, Carroll, Columbiana, Guernsey, Harrison, Holmes, Jefferson, Mahoning, Monroe, Noble, Portage, Stark, Trumbull, Tuscarawas and Wayne.