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People are still the heartbeat of the energy industry

Sep 03, 2019

Over the past 12 months, talent resource specialists, Prodrill Energy Resource Solutions, has experienced a phenomenal 300% increase in job flow, across its eight key sectors - drilling services, decommissioning/plug & abandonment, subsea, completions/well services, geoscience,  plus all aspects of general engineering, operations & maintenance, management & support.  This is undoubtedly a reflection on the increased confidence across the industry. 

At the forefront of innovation, the oil and gas sector has always heavily replied upon attracting and retaining highly skilled technical individuals to support the engineering developments.  However, this landscape is changing with the introduction of digital innovation and technology playing a key role in transforming the upstream oil and gas sector. The industry is predicting that 4,500 new people will be employed by 2025 in roles that currently don’t exist.

Whilst the industry experienced reduced activity during 2015-2017, resulting in a cumulative workforce decrease of 31%*, the tides are now turning as the offshore market gains momentum, with increased pressure for recruitment timelines to become more swift and agile.

OPITO’s UKCS Workforce Dynamics: The Skills Landscape 2019 - 2025 report states that the industry will also require an estimated 40,000 additional people by 2035, and 63% of this additional resource will need to be recruited by 2025 to support the industry vision.

Louise Wood, managing director of Prodrill, a leading name in technical oil and gas recruitment, says that people, talent and skills remain critical in achieving the industry’s long-term vision for 2035 and beyond.

“The human capital supply chain across the oil and gas industry has been at the sharp end of cost cutting over the past four years, as a result, the industry shed a vast amount of experience and skills. This is now having a detrimental effect on companies as the industry is on the road to recovery and companies are competing once again to fill their vacancy gaps.

“The oil and gas industry is still project driven and there’s a greater need for short to medium term projects to be fulfilled because of competitiveness for global capital investment. The industry continues to face challenges when up manning and retaining competent and skilled individuals to meet project demands.

“With future legislation changes surrounding the UK’s contractor population (off-payroll working - IR35 reform in the private sector), companies are entering a new horizon when hiring interim resource. Flexibility from the workforce will be as important as is retaining their knowledge and skills.

“Many organisations have fairly lengthy and complexed recruitment procedures, as well as drawn-out approval to hire processes.  On average it can take up to nine weeks for companies to make the final decision when hiring interim support; with this timeline often being longer for permanent hires. If the process takes any longer than four weeks the risk of losing ‘A’ level candidates rises significantly, with companies frequently missing out on their preferred choices. Avoiding inflated costs and remaining cost competitive is critical for the survival of the sector, and people are key to this.”

Louise who has more than 30 years expertise in oil and gas and corporate recruitment, believes working in partnership with the entire supply chain is crucial, engaging fully with all stakeholders to build strong foundations. 

Prodrill is aligned to support the industry’s workforce predictions for 2025; across permanent staffing solutions, contractor projects and interim PAYE workers. In the past ten years, the business has completed more than 2,000 client projects worldwide in the energy industry and boasts more than 100 years of collective technical recruitment expertise across their team.

Committed to supporting the industry’s Vision 2035 and beyond, Louise Wood is offering companies FREE professional advice on contractor engagement and developing a future staffing strategy. For support contact  louise.wood@prodrill-ers.com or +44 (0) 01224 261920.

*Rystad Energy, The tides of offshore recruitment are rising.


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