The UK is set to benefit from up to £100bn worth of investment in the development of North Sea oil and gas assets, a much welcomed boost needed to reverse what had become a sharp decline in output. But with skill shortages and an ageing workforce what does this mean for UK recruitment?
Dominic Morris, Director of Global Energy Business at Twenty Recruitment Group sheds light on what this will mean for engineering professionals within the oil and gas sector.
According to a recent article in the FT, Norway’s Statoil has already been given the go ahead to lead a $7bn investment to develop what will be the largest new offshore development in our sector of the North Sea for over ten years. Additionally, companies such as Talisman GDF Suez and Dana Petroleum have also received a green light for new projects.
However, the blot on an otherwise very positive landscape is the continuing problem of skill shortages. Talent is now a global commodity and contractors are finding rich pickings outside the UK.
While historically, there were 5/6 major oil companies who controlled the industry, over the last ten years smaller and mid-sized operators have formed upstream parts of their business as it has been a good revenue stream and we so have seen an influx of new operators – who need the same skill sets. In the UK, we also have an ageing workforce and with two crashes in oil prices, a lot of candidates left the industry when projects dried up in 2007/8. Today’s candidates have therefore had more opportunity- and faster traction for their career development.
While it’s true to say that many oil companies are ramping up their training programmes, it’s the mid career professional with 5-10 years’ experience that is currently in demand and that is obviously putting an upward pressure on salaries and day rates. Geophysicists for example can earn £1500 per day as a contractor – four years ago it was less than half of that.
For the oil and gas sector it seems that the war for talent is only just beginning – and that engineering professionals with oil and gas experience will find themselves viewed as pretty hot property.
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Dominic Morris is Director of Global Energy Business at Twenty Recruitment Group
