Economic Report 2013

Employment

• 36,000 directly employed by operating companies (12,500ofwhomworkedoffshore) • 200,000 employed in the wider supply chain (45,000 of whom worked offshore) • 112,000 in jobs induced by the economic activity of the above employees • 100,000 in jobs in exporting goods and services This suggests that the industry supported some 450,000 jobs within Britain’s economy in 2012, about half of which are in Scotland, with the other half spread across the rest of the UK. However, this is likely to be an underestimate, given that total expenditure by the industry has risen by more than 15 per cent in the last year alone (although some of this will be spent abroad). The industry has sizeable employment multipliers. It is estimated that 13 jobs are supported by every £1 million of operational expenditure on the UKCS and 15 jobs are supported by every £1 million of capital expenditure.

The industry is a major source of employment throughout the UK. The most recent figures available show that direct employment by companies exploring for and producing oil and gas from the UKCS has grown by 12 per cent to 36,000 compared with the previous study conducted in 2010. Over the same period, it is estimated that the number in indirect employment (in supply chain companies contracted for work by operators) has remained fairly stable at around 200,000, in part because of gains in efficiency, but also due to increased competition for labour internationally and the awarding of some contracts overseas. However, induced employment is estimated to have grown from 100,000 to 112,000. Overall, therefore, the composition of the upstream oil and gas workforce in the UK during 2012 was:

Figure 41: Offshore Employment by Home Address

Source: Vantage

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ECONOMIC REPORT 2013