Skills shortage hits oil sector

The skills shortage is hindering oil and gas industry growth

A skills shortage is jeopardising the future of the oil and gas industry, according to a new report.

The survey warned that the industry must continue to fight to attract staff if it is to grow in coming years.

Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce's oil and gas report found an urgent need for chemical, process, drilling and reservoir specialists.

Current employment market conditions mean it can take as long as three months to fill job vacancies.

Operators and contractors' efforts to pull new faces into the industry from other disciplines are to intensify, with a shift to permanent over temporary staff expected iin the next year as firms try to respond to "serious" recruitment issues.

The industry has initiated new programmes but the survey confirms that these are not yet bearing enough fruit Geoff Runcie Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce

The study found employment trends continued to rise, as 83% of producers have increased total employment and expect to push levels further still in the next 12 months, despite the skills shortage.

Crucially, there were no forecasted reductions in employment figures in the report produced with consultancy firm Deloitte.

Chamber chief executive Geoff Runcie said: "These results show the extent of the skills shortages and recruitment difficulties and how these are impacting upon activity levels and the ability of the contractors to meet operators' demands.

"The finite labour pool is being stretched to the point where larger operators and contractors are being forced to attract people from further down the supply chain with salary and benefits packages.

"The industry has initiated new programmes but the survey confirms that these are not yet bearing enough fruit.

"It cannot tackle some of the wider issues alone, and government has a big part to play through a long-term commitment to fiscal stability for the industry."