RECRUITMENT: SIMPSON BOOTH
but does it really get to the heart of what we need to focus on? In my opinion it doesn’t; it’s not just a numbers game, it’s about trying to ensure that the skills coming into the industry are sufficient to compensate for those which are leaving.
So what are the issues that need to be addressed to tackle this problem? Given that access to the right skills and expertise is one of the industry’s biggest limiting factors, it is critical that we focus on (1) sourcing new talent from other ‘pools’ and (2) ensuring that people coming into the industry are subject to focused and tailored training programmes.
For offshore workers, the issue has always been (and continues to be) the availability of bed space. Making the space available to provide the exposure to the ‘hands on’ experience necessary to deem them competent is a challenge. Morally and legally we can’t side-line the older worker to make training slots available for younger trainees.
Age/Years
really stepped up to this challenge. As a result, the risk of less experienced personnel being exposed to situations where their inexperience may cause accidents is tightly controlled.
...the offshore labour supply is generally well managed; people are mentored through formal training programmes and are ‘competence assured’, with the support of bodies like OPITO, which have really stepped up to this challenge.
One training ground used to be the service shutdowns which occurred during the spring to autumn weather window, which is not an attractive prospect for many.
Despite these challenges, the offshore labour supply is generally well managed; people are mentored through formal training programmes and are ‘competence assured’, with the support of bodies like OPITO, which have
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But what about onshore? There is no constraint on bed space, so surely it must be much easier to source and train enough people to keep up with the growth and retirement curves? With the industry experiencing an almost unprecedented resurgence, the need for the introduction and up-skilling of people is acute.
The growth of the industry drives the inevitable skills squeeze, which seems to be dealt with onshore by an immediate fix of attracting people through higher pay. This is a short-term solution, which although insulated by higher oil prices and margins, has resulted in the industry paying a lot more for the same level of competency (or possibly less!). This is clearly not a healthy or sustainable long-term solution.
Many of the jobs onshore can be relatively easily replaced from outside the oil and gas market. However there is a real gulf between supply and demand for individuals with specialist skills in the areas of Engineering, Project Management, Commercial, HSE, Quality, Planning, Geotechnical, Survey etc. and this gap cannot be narrowed by merely paying more for these skills than the employer next door.
There are of course graduate programmes, which employers in the industry are fully committed to. But this is not enough; a concerted common approach to the fast- tracking of personnel from other industries is needed to address current growth plans. Some companies have implemented successful ‘conversion’ courses for engineers
and other disciplines, but more is needed to make a real difference to the skills shortages.
In order to be successful as an industry, we need to continually think about new ways of sourcing and developing talent. Using the search of gas as an analogy to the people issue we are now facing, I leave you with the following quote:
Figure 1: The Age Profile of the Offshore Workforce for 2010 and 2011
2011 Figures 2010 Figures
“We usually fi nd gas in new places with old ideas. Sometimes, also, we fi nd gas in an old place with a new idea, but we seldom fi nd much gas in an old place with an old idea. Several times in the past we have thought that we were running out of gas, whereas actually we were only running out of ideas.”
- Adapted from Parke A. Dickey by American Potential Gas Committee.
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