Supply and Demand

An Ask the Expert feature with Fircroft Group

Johnathan Johnson, CEO of Fircroft Group, explains how to tackle the crucial personnel challenges facing the oil and gas industry.

“Authorities need to understand that an international industry requires an international workforce”
-Johnathan Johnson, Fircroft

In recent years we have seen a dramatic change in the supply and demand of suitably experienced and qualified personnel within the oil and gas industry. An age gap has become apparent and we are seeing a declining expatriate workforce in the industry. Mix this with the increase in demand from the developing countries such as China and India, and the associated increase in the price of oil to what it was a few years ago, and we are facing a massive shortfall in the available expatriate manpower resources necessary to keep up with new projects being sanctioned.

Over the next decade we will see the development of huge projects in locations such as Kazakhstan and Papua New Guinea, where there will be a workforce requirement of tens of thousands of personnel. Admittedly this workforce will be a mixture of qualified expatriates together with local semi-skilled construction workers but the message is clear.

Questions that need to be answered are: How do we attract new personnel into the industry? How do we train and develop the right skills required? And how do we retain people within the industry?

The oil and gas industry has many benefits that should be used as attraction strategies for young professionals. The industry is project driven and allows individuals to gain a wealth of experience in working with a multinational workforce, within many international cultures and to travel to some of the most diverse locations in the world. This type of experience can only be experienced within one or two professions and should be used as a great attraction strategy to the next generation. These benefits should also be utilized to attract personnel with transferable skills from other industries where the demand for 'new blood' is not so great and where remuneration and work location can be bettered.

This is a global industry that employs a multinational workforce, which should be greater utilized, the historical 'expatriate workforce' is changing. We can now see recruitment centers in places such as India, Indonesia and the Philippines where experienced personnel are being seconded to the Middle Eastern countries like Dubai and Qatar as a cheaper but equally qualified alternative to Western expatriates.

Countries and regions such as Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan in the Former Soviet Union, which had very little in the way of industry-experienced locals, now has a growing young and qualified workforce that are keen to travel and experience different international cultures that were formerly forbidden. These individuals have spent the last five to 10 years or so gaining valuable industry experience by 'ghosting' or working alongside experienced Western expatriates learning their trade. Authorities need to understand that an international industry requires an international workforce and as such difficulties that arise due to visa and work permit hurdles, need to be addressed.

So attracting talent to the industry should not be an issue with the promise of international travel and attractive remuneration compared to other industries such as construction. Developing and managing talent can be achieved by 'casting the net' wider and looking at educating and providing experience to those in developing countries and regions such as the Former Soviet Union and South East Asia. Retention strategies are also a major issue and a common factor in the contract workforce is that candidates are not passed from project to project within the same company. Companies need to be made aware of when a particular contractor is nearing the end of an assignment, and when they can then look at available roles on new projects to enable the retention of individuals within that organization.