Global oil and gas workforce survey results support oil company boss's safety concerns

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 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 Middle East is one of seven major oil and gas producing regions represented in the survey with respondents being drawn from over 50 countries. More than 15,500 were either direct recruiters or senior decision makers.

With all regions around the globe facing resourcing challenges as well as tentative economic outlooks, the Middle East continues to lure skilled expatriates away from desirable design hubs such as London and Houston. The offer of an unrivalled quality of life, competitive rates, attractive tax breaks and long-tenured placements is proving too tempting to resist.

The region however has experienced an uncertain overcast with experts predicting that talented personnel are set to flock to Australia and Asia Pacific as they overtake Qatar as the leading exporter of LNG within the next four to five years. However, these concerns have been allayed with foreign investment dollars and salary rates remaining consistent.

As a whole hiring rates have increased by 45% across the Middle East with the UAE well recognised as a regional hotspot for project activity. Offshore and refining projects are expected to pick up across the year as the Emirates plan to significantly increase production to fulfill domestic requirements.

Saudi Arabia is in close pursuit with activity set to continue at a steady pace across the year as multiple downstream and refinery projects come online. Most notably, Saudi Aramco has created projects worth SR308bn opening up huge employment opportunities in the area. Furthermore, Iraq continues to open its doors to increased investment, sparked by a desire from operators to access significant reserves estimated to be the third largest in the world, despite instability caused by unpredictable political tensions.

With an increase in activity however, comes a common problem, a need for senior expertise. 60.4% expect to see an increase in salaries, a trend mimicked worldwide with employee packages seeing a general upward trend with specific emphasis 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. This issue is most noticeable in areas such as the Middle East where investment continues, accelerating the need for skilled personnel with site construction workers and senior-level engineers being the most in demand."

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."

Mark Guest concluded, "Elements of the oil and gas workforce will continue to be transient in nature and respond to the demand for their skills around the globe, but the industry as a whole needs to concentrate on developing the workforce in order to ensure knowledge is passed on and the required experience is in place to manage the world's oil and gas reserves."