Jobs in the OFFSHORE Industry - who?

Herewith a topic for discussion related to WHO will be available in/for the offshore industry.

Soon more engineering and construction/commissioning jobs will become available again in the Oil & Gas industry. For a longer period there has been a serious dip in the overall start-up of new big offshore industry related projects. Slowly and steadily we now are beginning to see that more FIDs are being signed and more FEEDs are being executed. This related to for example offshore fields like the areas in East Africa and West Australia . The focus however more on GAS/LNG/Condensate. More need for storage and transport like FPSOs and LNG Carriers.

(This topic the focus on jobs in the Offshore related projects, not the onshore LNG & OIL projects, like in Qatar for example).

The feeling is that the upcoming new offshore projects are more LNG related then Oil related. In case this is the trend from 2017 onward, then soon the next steps are the engineering phases, the tendering phases and contract signing phases this then with the bigger engineering companies and the bigger yards where then the construction of these projects will be started up. As FIDs and FEEDs take time, this then leans towards 2021 onward to start up the construction phases at the bigger yards and a such these type of people are needed again .

One question then is, where and which yards? 

The other question is which people and which type of people and who is still available?

Regarding the bigger yards, mostly were chosen, the Singapore yards, lesser the South Korean yards, and more and more the Chinese yards. What choices will be made. Although the Singapore and South Korean yards are eager, the Chinese yards and China have not been sitting still. Big changes have taken place the last decade, with restructuring of the yards, reduction of bigger yards and concentrating qualified engineers and managers on these yards. China has become a very interesting location for these entities who have to make the decision to finance these offshore related projects. There will be challenges to come where the quality and safety standards could be different over there. Then again with competent engineers and managers on site, this can be dealt with.

But WHO will be available for these type of projects to form such competent engineering and project teams. Keep in mind that since the dip started (2011 onward ) not many big projects were started up and more and more ships and units were being laid up, never completed or even scrapped.Various of the ""old"" new build units were never delivered and are still idle at various shipyards. Till present date therefore, there is still a large fleet of previous operational ( and even complete newly build) offshore vessels, drill ships, platforms and jack ups, laying idle. Therefore the newer, younger generation engineers and managers did not have the opportunity to gain allot of experience in the last decade. Neither in the field for operations nor in projects for engineering and construction/commissioning.

Where on the other end a large group of now ( very) senior people have reached an age where they either had to choose to leave the offshore, by lack of projects and went to onshore projects. Or chose for other types of industries, to leave the offshore industry for good. Last but not least they simply retired completely, no longer interested in these upcoming BIG projects as these still are at far from home locations, with socially limited LEAVE schedules and at (offshore) RATES allot lower then these used to be.

Note: Due to the increasing industry for onshore and offshore Wind Turbine Farms, and Solar Panel Fields; Various offshore skilled people have moved into this industry, with the intentions/chances that they will/do not return to the Oil & Gas Offshore Industry.

With now slowly the offshore industry coming up again, there we could have a catch 22. As on one hand we have a large group of the new, younger generation eager to prove themselves and to start up these large, complex, multi-billion dollar projects. This however with only theoretical and (very) limited practical experience. ( please do not feel offended !). With on the other hand, the senior generation which has moved away or retired from this industry and as such, allot of knowledge and experience is no longer available, to assist this newer generation to execute these large and complex and costly projects. This then could result that project completion can take longer than planned and anticipated with more challenges related to safety, execution and budget.

Keep in mind that ALSO the shipyards face a similar situation where the more experienced and senior generation is no longer available. For example in Asia, people may retire at 55 years and at certain yards due to the decrease of projects over the last years, various senior people were requested to retire early/earlier.

This is something to seriously think about for the entities who need to plan, finance and execute these bigger projects. Therefore setting up the budgets for such Engineering teams, Construction/Commissioning and Operational teams could become an important factor and the rates and conditions as are available now, are inadequate or will prove these are inadequate.

More and more Recruiters are searching for resumes and probing for the rates people are willing to start a project. This type of communication is intensifying strongly now, which in an way can be good as through this medium/forum like LinkedIn. We therefore can see the offshore related projects job market is moving up. However the rates and the primary and secondary conditions have been reduced drastically and become less favourable. For the younger generation these appear to be acceptable and are/could not be the main reason to start into the big offshore projects. These rates however would/will/could be, a/the reason for the senior generation to no longer enter ( back) into this industry. Hence the catch 22. As the large offshore projects are complex to design, engineer, build and operate.

Also to consider to have next to a good mix of various levels of experienced people, also a broader mix of nationalities in the project teams but this not only for the Client teams however also in the Shipyard's engineering, construction and commissioning teams.  Look into the option to mix talent with experience. Create a kind of ""buddy"" system. Hire an experienced engineer/manager and let him work side by side with a talented new engineer/manager. During the project the exchange of experience and knowledge will proove a cost saving in the long run and a preparation for the newer generation to take on larger and more difficult roles. So do not only rely only on the talent of teh younger generation. And do not rule out the significance of experience and knowledge from the senior generation.                                                                           

Food for thought.

Looking forward to see how this all will evolve and develop in the ( near ) future as it is a fascinating and fantastic industry to work in.     

Notes: As results of comments/input to this article.

Have not made a real distinction in age of generations: However we could differentiate; A) There is the ( very young ) generation, B) The new generation. C) The senior generation and D) The very senior generation.  where the very young generation have no experience. But the very senior generation also can have lost touch with the modern world of communication and technoloy and software. Therefore more general the topic on the gap between this young/new and senior generation.

(written by Frank Govers - Jan 11/2019- updated March 2021)