North Sea Oil Skills Shortage Warning as Recruitment and Industry Confidence Rises

That is the warning made in the 29th Oil and Gas Survey which reveals that one in three firms are looking to increase their UK workforce by 10% or more next year as business confidence reaches its highest level for five years amidst rising oil prices.

The study reveals that just over one in five firms have already increased their total UK-based workforce by more than 10% in the last 12 months.

Just over one in three expected their headcount for contract staff to rise over the next three years and almost two thirds expect the level of core staff to increase.

The report comes just two weeks after the Oil and Gas Authority said the UK has enough oil reserves to sustain production for the next 20 years and beyond.

But the study, conducted by Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Fraser of Allander Institute and KPMG said 44% of firms identified at least one discipline in short supply, with a significant number pinpointing a lack of engineers.

Firms also reported a lack of suitable technical staff and those with IT experience, particularly programmers and software engineers; with a number further noting problems attracting sales and management staff.

Moray Barber, partner at accountancy firm KPMG, said: “The price of oil is driving a more positive sentiment across the industry, but the survey does highlight the importance of retaining our best people and ensuring that the next generation of talent has the right type of skills for the coming energy transition.

“We need to be asking where the next generation of talent is going to come from, what skills do they really need, and what are we doing in industry and academia to ensure we have enough people to help sustain that headcount growth?”

“Overall, this survey tells us that change is afoot and the direction of travel is positive, but there continue to be potential traps along the way, not least the impact of Brexit, a potential impending skills gap and environmental and climate change risk.

“We believe the industry is alive to these challenges as we are seeing our clients develop growth strategies and scenario planning to deal with the risks these present, as well as driving forward their technology and innovation agenda to become disruptors in their own right.”

Russell Borthwick, chief executive of Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce, warned that there remains a level of uncertainty in the oil and gas sector despite the slow recovery from the low points of 2015 and 2016.

“We are all watching and trying to understand the implications of political declarations relating to the UK’s divorce from the EU.”

In September, official figures showed oil and gas production from Scottish waters had fallen by 1.7% after two consecutive years of growth.

They show that 73.7 million tonnes of oil, gas and liquid gas were produced in 2017-18, compared with 75 million during the previous year.

However the value of the oil and gas grew by 18.2% to about £20bn, largely thanks to the rising oil price.

Source: www.heraldscotland.com