Amanda Salazar watched for a year as colleagues at the Houston-based oil rig manufacturer where she worked lost jobs, victims of the latest oil bust. She realized it was time for a change before she too got a pink slip. So Salazar left her job as a software trainer with National Oilwell Varco for a similar position at a hospital. Even if the oil market turned around immediately, she reasoned, it might take 18 months before the industry picked up again. “And that’s a long time to be sitting at work wondering if you’re going to get laid off,” she said. For generations, anyone who lived in Houston long enough was sure to feel the pain of an oil bust. But 21st century Houston isn’t like its oil-dependent predecessor. The city now has a more diversified […]

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