Talent Demand Shift in Oil & Gas
The oil and gas industry has been in an era of restructuring and volatility for the past 18 months. Low oil prices have led to significant staff layoffs, business unit disposals, mergers, acquisitions and even some landmark bankruptcies. And at the same time oil companies have worked towards optimising their production levels and some have quickly pushed into completing or re-tendering existing projects taking advantage of the low cost supplier environment.
What we have seen more recently, over the last couple months, is that most oil and gas organisations now feel like they have completed their restructuring and are refocusing their attention into talents once again.
Despite the heavy restructuring, new-look companies have maintained their traditional management hierarchies, however they have changed the way that they utilise their human resources in order to concentrate on specific business opportunities that improve productivity and lower costs. This is especially true for those who began to build their facilities in a stronger business climate and are now entering production phase under low price conditions.
“As the industry moves into production the type and style of leader that might be required for an organisation is potentially quite different to the type of leader that is really successful in the construction phase” says Julie Harrison, Deloitte Australia human capital partner, said in an interview with Rigzone. Harrison suggested as an example. “It is still the type of leader who has significant experience but it has to be a leader with experience in production”.
Skilled professionals in operations and production disciplines were already the most sought after employees in the first half of 2016 in an otherwise quiet recruitment environment, said Austin Blackburne, recruitment director at Hays.
“It was really only in business critical roles where companies were hiring but now the super majors are being more strategic as they have come out of the doldrums — there is more forward thinking than reactive thinking”, Blackburne said. “As construction is well and truly over, and exploration is almost non-existent, it is really about streamlining processes in controls and operations, and in oil field services, to make sure everything is running smoothly and production is maximized”.
This renewed focus on talent is the right move in the current oil and gas climate. Companies need to look to the future rather than bunker down to survive the storm.
Recruitment however has not yet reached the point of desperation, but when the inevitable upturn in the oil price does come about there is likely to be a severe shortage of production skills in the market. Those who had the required experience and skills may not return. Furthermore, in contrast to recruitment criteria of the past, much more focus will now be placed on technology, especially for automation to streamline processes.
“The culture that prevailed for a long time was to develop and deliver at all costs. There was a significant focus on delivering, but very little focus on cost”, Harrison explained. “Now what we are seeing is organisational cultures changing to more high performance culture, which we are gradually starting to see emerge in the oil and gas sector”.
How do you see the talent market and skills requirements evolving in the Oil and Gas industry?
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