HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Chevron announced on Friday that it will be relocating its headquarters to Houston, joining the growing list of Fortune 500 companies making the move.
This shift comes as the city’s energy sector continues to expand, creating new opportunities for job seekers. Afdavuddin Ashran, who recently immigrated from Afghanistan, expressed his excitement about starting a new career in the U.S. He was among the 20 graduates of the Texas Construction Career Pathways pre-apprenticeship program, which offers an alternative to college by providing three weeks of training for jobs that allow students to earn while they learn.
Graduate Johnny Gonzalez IV shared his experience, saying, “I didn’t have the dedication to go to college. That wasn’t for me. Now that I’ve been introduced to this, I think it’s a better option than college for me.”
The program emphasizes clean energy jobs, a sector that Houston economic leaders identify as a key area of growth along with energy transition, aerospace, and life sciences. Craig Rhodes, the senior vice president of economic development at the Greater Houston Partnership, highlighted these industries as sources of exciting future job opportunities.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire announced Chevron’s move, noting that a company executive cited the city’s potential and Whitmire’s administration’s commitment to tackling inherited challenges, like public safety, as reasons for the relocation. Chevron plans to transition all corporate functions from California to Houston over the next five years. Currently, there are 2,000 workers in California.
While Chevron has not publicly shared the specific reasons for the move, Rhodes mentioned several general factors that make Houston an attractive destination for companies: a skilled workforce, strong infrastructure, a central location in the U.S., and its status as the “Energy Capital of the World.”
Despite the influx of companies, job growth in the region has slowed. The Greater Houston Partnership reported 130,000 jobs were added from May 2022 to 2023, compared to 80,000 in the previous year. Rhodes described this as a return to a “normal pace.”
Chevron is the fourth Fortune 500 company to move its headquarters to Houston in the last five years, bringing the total number in the city to 24, behind only New York City and Chicago. When asked about future relocations, neither Whitmire nor the Greater Houston Partnership disclosed which company might be next.
