Black Sheep blazes a new trail.

• Author: Griffin, Judith Fuerst
• Position: Black Sheep Engineering Services - Includes related article - Company Profile

One avenue available to engineers displaced by downsizing oil companies is contracting to provide similar services to their former employers. Here's how one small enterprise discovered that route after a detour to Washington state.

Half the pay at twice the hours is not such a bad deal, all things considered, say Sandy Macfarlane and Kelly Eager, the married principals of Black Sheep Engineering Services. Three years after accepting severance packages from employer BP Exploration (Alaska), the engineers are working again for BP, the major client of their multi-service engineering and consulting firm. Compensating for the lower income is a lot of job satisfaction and the ability to juggle schedules to spend more time with their son, Matthew, age 5.

Says Macfarlane, "I'm really enjoying my work. It's a lot of fun, and I'm providing value to my clients in areas that are sorely needed."

Adds Eager, "I don't want to go back to working for an employer. I'm working harder and not making as much money, but I enjoy an awful lot of flexibility."

As recently as 1992, the engineers foresaw a future outside of Alaska. When the oil companies announced drastic downsizing, Macfarlane and Eager were among many staff members who seized opportunities to voluntarily take the first and most gilded severance offers. They were able to leave their jobs with generous severance benefits.

Macfarlane points out that the availability of relocation support was one of the inducements. "We'd been in Alaska for almost 10 years and were ready for a change. In addition, we had a one-and-a-half-year-old and were far from our families. The package would permit us to move, and we liked the Pacific Northwest and the thought of being near relatives."

Both Macfarlane and Eager had worked for Sohio Petroleum Co. (later renamed BP) in San Francisco. They relocated to Alaska in 1984. Macfarlane, who has a bachelor's degree in psychology and a master's in petroleum engineering, held positions as facilities engineer, senior reservoir engineer, and team management adviser while employed by Sohio and BP. Eager, who has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, served as facilities and plant engineer, production engineer, and senior facility engineer. Because he had traveled extensively for the oil firm and Macfarlane had worked on the North Slope, they looked forward to more time in the same residence.

Eager landed a job before the couple left Alaska. "We went from two BP salaries...