Oil & Gas Musical Chairs!
How do you keep managing a skills gap in a feast or famine industry? It certainly is not by playing musical chairs with the limited resources that are out there.
It is a question I have been asking ever since I joined the Oil & Gas industry back in 2007
Once again, we find ourselves in a skills gap situation with the added difference of an industry that is bouncing back not just from the previous ‘standard’ downturn, but also the impact of COVID, which further heightened the reduction in operations, increase in company headcount reduction and a virtually non-existent graduate / entry level positions being available into the industry.
We now find ourselves where companies are rushing to catch up with operations / programs and the same old problem of not enough bums to fill all the available seats raises it head (or bum) again.
There are a plethora of opportunities out there and for contractors, a market where day rates are starting to shoot through the roof due to the extreme limited number of qualified people available for roles. As it stands from what I see (especially in Aberdeen), we will never be able to fill all the roles that are currently available – well, especially in the area that I specialise in.
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If you also add to the mix, not just the standard roles we are used to seeing, but companies looking to take on contractors for roles such as Wellsite Drilling Engineers and similar which used to be seen as a development role mainly undertaken by employees. Roles that were either released or no new intake of people during the downturns.
I wrote back in 2015 (and prior to that) about the effects that the industry has a history of bringing on itself, especially in there not being enough talent coming through the ranks to replace those at the other end. Entry level / lower-level positions are usually the first to go and with the average age of someone working in the Oil & Gas industry of around 56, there is not a lot of time to try and re-balance this problem.
I often ask the question to seasoned people in the industry, “if you were looking at a career choice now, would you choose Oil & Gas?” I do not think I need to state what most of the answers are. Yes, financial rewards can be great, but potentially for only short period of time and with no security.
For anyone looking to build a lasting career, then would you take the risk of starting a graduate program for it to be potentially binned at the next sight of a downturn?
So, how do we try and sell the industry and bring more people through the ranks? Ideas on a postcard please??
Drilling/Project Manager at Dwight Smith Consulting
2 年I made two mistakes in my career ?? in the oil patch: Joining and not quitting. LOL
Consultant
2 年Boom to Bust to …Boom again? The story of natural resources and the drilling business in particular. This has been a 7 year Bust. For purely selfish reasons, long may this “Boom” last. Are we there yet? Maybe. But it will not last. And there is the conundrum. Would you recommend your kids to join the Oilfield? The answer is “how much?”.
Drilling engineering advisor
2 年Absolutely right - great post
Wells Operations and Engineering Executive Leadership
2 年Well stated and timely article, Lee. This issue has been in the industry throughout the 40+ years I’ve been lucky enough to be in it. The only thing that has changed is that the time between bust and boom seems to have gotten shorter over time. The other influence on putting “bums in seats” especially new grads / entrants, of course, is the growing and now almost hysterical “bad guy” image of the industry in this time of climate change focus. I, for one, wouldn’t have changed a thing in my chosen career - love what I do, the people I’ve met, places I’ve been, and I’m proud of what this industry has done and continues to do to improve quality of life for people around the globe.
Consultant CSR and ESG Performance / SME with Law Firms and Legal Departments
2 年With over 30 years of experience in O&G, Hot&Deep Geothermal and Storage Drilling, as consultant on operators side (Fluids Cement and Waste management Superintendent), a MSc in Environmental Management at 50, and constantly in learning mode, I just feel sorry in periods like now, with no mission ahead to be not able to transmit any of this accumulated (and still accumulating) knowledge. Hopefully with the soon (2023-2024) obligation to produce extra-financial reports that will among other criteria (ESG criteria), include Employees Training, we could start seeing sound training programs implemented and career path analysis become of important as part of value creation for companies... again, hopefully.