Oil & gas skills potential
30 Sep 2015
Despite the turmoil facing the oil & gas sector, some may have thought that skills issues had subsided. But, as ABB’s Will Leonard argues, it is a challenge as important as any other facing the sector.
A key driver of the skills shortage is not so much redundancies but the fact that a generation of geoscientists, petroleum engineers and process experts are about to retire.
It is unclear who will replace them.
During previous oil price dips, most notably in the 1990s, companies shed lots of people
ABB’s oil, gas & chemicals marketing manager, Will Leonard
However, an Ernst & Young (EY) report published in December last year dispels the ageing workforce myth, citing the proportion of over-55s as lower than the national average (13% vs 32%).
The report goes on to say that “with the recent fall in oil price to under $80 a barrel placing renewed focus on operational effectiveness and cost reduction, this talent pool will be key to unlocking the sector’s ability to delivering sustainable value for the UK economy.”
During previous oil price dips, most notably in the 1990s, companies shed lots of people, many of whom left the industry for good.
It was believed that the fallout from this era meant that the industry was missing the capable, competent, multi-skilled engineers with 10 to 20 years’ experience.
However, the EY report claims that the perceived gap at mid-career level is not as significant as previously thought.
The industry has a high proportion of mid-career professionals with half the workforce aged 25-45.
Despite this, the competition for engineering talent in other sectors is causing the oil and gas industry concerns.
Regimented Recruits
Today, engineers have far more career choices in “new” sectors such as renewables, smart grids and digital media.
With large-scale infrastructure projects such as High-Speed Rail 2, Crossrail 2 and Britain’s proposed new generation of nuclear power stations in the pipeline, the need is bound to become more acute.
One solution to recruitment is to look at the skills offered by military personnel that are set to leave the armed forces. Some have very transferable skills. For instance, telecommunications expertise coupled with the experience of working in arduous environments in some of the riskier parts of the world.
Better Prepared
To confirm its commitment to nurturing new talent, ABB recently invested $1 million (£640,000) in a multi-functional collaboration and learning facility at its UK oil & gas centre of excellence in St. Neots, Cambridgeshire.
The centre has four zones that together offer an interactive experience that takes the users through a story of a typical plant asset and the challenges that might be faced from unplanned shutdowns, availability of skilled resource and greater internal collaboration.
The facility is also being used as part of ABB’s own graduate and apprentice development schemes. These schemes reflect the oil & gas industry’s ongoing efforts to ‘develop–their-own’ and build a sustainable pool of talent for the future.
Such programmes are essential to get graduates and apprentices “street-wise” as quickly as possible.
Industry acknowledges that a three-year degree course will only offer 5% of the skill set needed to operate in industry. A further three to five years on-site training is then needed before graduates have the skills to operate as engineers independently.
- Will Leonard is Oil, Gas and Chemicals marketing manager for ABB
