Warnings that oil industry safety standards are being jeopardised by a shortage of experienced staff are supported by a report published on, Monday 11 March 2013. 32% of respondents to the latest joint report from OilCareers.com, the international jobs board for the oil and gas industry, and partner Air Energi, a global provider of manpower solutions to the energy sector, highlighted the on-going skills shortage as the biggest threat to the sector. The lack of skilled trainers was identified as a major training issue by over 20%. The report confirms that heightened safety concerns due to economic instability combined with a continuing strong oil price and the on-going skills shortage, particularly in the LNG and subsea sectors, will continue to push oil related salaries upwards.
The Global Oil & Gas Workforce Survey: Expectations for hires and pay rates in the oil and gas industry (H1) 2013 highlights that ensuring the right personnel are on the ground in the right place will present a continuing challenge for the worldwide oil and gas industry. The survey requested information and opinions from more than 170,000 oil and gas professionals worldwide. The seven major oil and gas producing regions are represented in the survey with respondents being drawn from over 50 countries. More than 15,500 were either direct recruiters or senior decision makers.
Employee packages are seeing a general upward trend with specific emphasis being seen in areas that are considered to be high risk. Mark Guest, managing director of OilCareers.com, said: “The recent tragic events in Algeria have served to further underline existing safety concerns throughout the oil and gas industry. It has long been the case that positions in certain geographic areas attract a higher level of remuneration to reflect the safety issues associated with the work location. Companies working in these locations take the security of their personnel very seriously and work to protect them and ensure their working environment is as safe as possible.”
Mark continued, “The 2013 H1 survey and predictions for H2 confirm these safety inflation pressures are being reflected throughout the industry. In addition it should be noted that without the right personnel in place to train the next generation the skills shortage is likely to continue and to become a bigger problem.”
Ian Langley, group executive chairman of Air Energi, added: “Just over 34% of those responding to the survey perceived economic instability as being the biggest threat to today’s oil and gas industry. The skills shortage was a very close second; 32% view this as being a major challenge to overcome. In particular the shortage of subsea and LNG personnel is being felt throughout the industry and has a knock on effect in terms of project costs and delays.”
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