Kern County Oil Workers: Free Retraining Money, and an Info Session September 28

Published: September 13, 2026 | By LocalJobPage Team

BAKERSFIELD, CA — Kern County produces most of California's oil and has spent the last several years learning what happens to the people who pull it out of the ground when the permits stop. The state's answer is a fund almost nobody in Taft or Oildale seems to know by name, and on Monday, September 28, the county agency that administers it is spending two hours explaining how to get into it.

The Displaced Oil & Gas Worker Fund information session runs Monday, September 28, from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM at America's Job Center on East Belle Terrace. It is free, materials are available in English and Spanish, and you have to RSVP by phone.

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📍 At a Glance

Event	Displaced Oil & Gas Worker Fund Information Session
Date	Monday, September 28, 2026
Time	9:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Location	America's Job Center — SE Bakersfield, 1600 East Belle Terrace, Bakersfield, CA 93307
Cost	Free
Format	In person
Registration	RSVP required, (661) 742-2217
Languages	English and Spanish materials
Host	Employers' Training Resource, Kern County

💵 What the Fund Actually Pays For

California created the Displaced Oil and Gas Worker Fund in 2022 with $30 million, and Kern County's workforce board pulled down the largest share of it, roughly $11 million. It is not an unemployment check and it is not a job placement gimmick. It is training money.

Per KQED's reporting on the program, an enrolled worker can access up to $15,000 for education, certificates, licensing or on-the-job training, plus up to $2,500 more for the things that quietly sink a career change: transportation, work clothes, tools, even relocation. Case management and job search help come with it. KQED reported the fund had moved more than 630 workers statewide into new positions, with Kern enrolling over 650 eligible workers and roughly 200 of them placed by May 2026.

Two dates matter. The fund is scheduled to sunset in July 2027, and Employers' Training Resource has run its Kern grant on a clock ending in March 2027. Legislation to make the fund permanent was pending as of this summer. Nobody should plan around an extension that has not passed.

✅ Who Qualifies

ETR describes the target group as workers who have been laid off from the oil and gas industry or are at risk of being laid off. That second half is the part people miss. You do not have to be unemployed yet. If your crew has been cut back, your rig is stacked, or your employer has told you what is coming, you are the person this was built for.

ETR's stated destinations for these skills are construction, transportation, renewable energy, advanced manufacturing, high technology, health care, law enforcement and government. Brandon Evans of ETR framed the logic plainly when the county's grant was announced: "We think that there might be some great fits between folks leaving the gas and oil industry, and moving into things like correction, construction, law enforcement."

Bring what you would bring to an intake appointment: photo ID, your work history with employer names and dates, any separation or layoff paperwork, and a list of the certifications and licenses you already hold. A commercial driver's license, a crane card, an H2S certification or a welding ticket all have value outside the patch, and the whole point of case management is matching what you already have to a comparable wage.

⚠️ Read This Before You Drive Over

Being straight about what this is. It is an information session, not a job fair. There will not be a room full of employers with openings to fill. It is the explanation of a benefit program, and the deliverable is an application and a case manager, not an interview.

Also, RSVP is required. That phone number is (661) 742-2217, and it is worth calling anyway to ask what to bring and whether you qualify before you spend a morning on it. ETR's separate weekly Job Hub, which runs Tuesday mornings and does feature employer presentations, is the closer thing to a hiring event if that is what you actually need.

🔧 The Honest Read on Kern Oil Right Now

This is not a story about an industry that vanished. Kern County reopened oil well permitting on January 2, 2026, and is accepting applications for up to 2,000 new wells a year over the next decade. Local operators have argued thousands of Kern workers went idle during the permitting freeze, though that estimate comes from the industry rather than from any state count, and nobody has published a verified figure for how many of those jobs come back or how fast.

So both things are true at once. Drilling is restarting, and a state fund is still paying to move people out of the sector. If you are sitting at home waiting for a call back from a company that stopped calling, the sensible move is not to pick a side. It is to bank a certification somebody else will pay for while you wait.

🔎 Where Kern County Is Actually Hiring

The sectors ETR steers people toward are not theoretical here. Kern runs freight through Shafter and along Highway 99, builds solar out toward Mojave and Rosamond, staffs county facilities from Bakersfield to Ridgecrest, and keeps hospital and skilled trade openings posted year round. Walk into that session already knowing what is available and the conversation gets a lot more specific.

Start here:

Frequently Asked Questions

When and where is the displaced oil and gas worker session?

Monday, September 28, 2026, from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM at America's Job Center — SE Bakersfield, 1600 East Belle Terrace, Bakersfield, CA 93307. RSVP at (661) 742-2217.

Does it cost anything?

No. Employers' Training Resource lists the session and the program itself as no cost.

Do I have to be laid off already?

No. ETR's eligibility language covers workers at risk of being laid off from oil and gas, not only those already out of work.

How much training money is available?

KQED reported enrolled workers can access up to $15,000 for training, education, certificates or licensing, plus up to $2,500 for related costs like transportation, tools and work clothes. Confirm your own award amount with ETR, since individual eligibility and the balance of the grant both matter.

Is this a job fair with employers there?

No. It is an information session about the fund. ETR's weekly Job Hub on Tuesday mornings is the event that features employer presentations.

What if I cannot make September 28?

Call (661) 742-2217 anyway. Enrollment in the grant is not tied to attending one session, and ETR runs orientations most Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays out of the same system.

Two Weeks Out. Make the Call Monday.

Training money with a 2027 expiration date rewards the people who apply early, not the people who wait to see whether drilling really comes back. Create your free LocalJobPage profile and turn on alerts for Kern County openings, or browse every job posted in Bakersfield right now.

Employers: Kern County has experienced, safety-trained, drug-tested field workers looking for a second act right now. Post your openings on LocalJobPage Bakersfield and reach them before somebody else does.