Other factors include inadequate succession planning and knowledge transfer (24%), strict immigration laws that prevent companies from sourcing talent globally (16%), and a loss of expertise due to retirements (15%). In addition, fewer young candidates/specialists are entering the industry.
Overall, the impacts of skills shortages are being felt across the industry, but in particular in fields such as Operations and Maintenance (cited by 27%), Subsea Pipeline Construction (23%) and Health & Safety (21%).
Let’s look at some of these factors in more depth.
An Aging Workforce
According to Brunel’s Global Oil & Gas Industry Leader Jeroen van Drunen, the aging Oil & Gas sector is starting to see talent gaps more harshly than other industries. Jeroen said, “Many experienced specialists are either looking to retire or developing their skills towards greener energies. With younger workers more concerned about climate change, it’s becoming increasingly challenging to identify and attract the right level of specialists to work on key Oil & Gas projects.”
Seeing as we’re still decades away from a full transition to green energy, companies need to look at how they can upskill and develop the talent they have.
A Lack of Training
Considering that nearly half (40%) of respondents feel that insufficient education and training is the biggest driver of the worsening skills shortage, it is a massive area for improvement moving forward. New energy production methods create the need for new skills, meaning new training methods are urgently needed — especially for increasingly complex renewable energy sources such as green hydrogen and offshore wind.
What can be Done to Reverse the Skills Shortage?
Employers are looking at a range of solutions to address the problem, such as expanding training programs for their existing workforce (64%), broadening their recruitment processes to target people with transferable skills in other industries (36%), and collaborating with colleges to attract top graduates (29%). In addition, nearly a quarter of companies (22%) have launched initiatives to recruit more women, helping to address the industry’s gender imbalance.
