Economic Report 2013

Skills

• Establishing a high level industry relationship with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) – 18-20,000 men and women will leave the armed forces in each of the next three years and many of them will have transferable skills. The industry’s training organisation, OPITO 16 , is working with the MoD to map and identify skills in both industry and military roles to facilitate the matching of skills and the development of appropriate transition training. • Discipline work groups in areas of shortage have been established to explore the feasibility of transition training/accelerated development. • Creating smarter training solutions – for example, through possible development of facilities that could be used as assessment or proving centres for skilled workers from other industries and to reduce the offshore training time required. A feasibility study is underway for this initiative. • Lobbying the government on immigration policy to facilitate recruitment of skilled personnel from non-EU countries. • Education – pooling of resources and effort under the auspices of OPITO so the industry can reach more schools throughout the country, more often, and with consistent messages about the importance of and opportunities afforded by studying STEM subjects. Though the sector has no difficulties in attracting new entrants to the industry, it is important for the longer term to sustain a flow of school leavers and university graduates with STEM qualifications, not just for this industry, but for the economy as a whole. 

The past year has seen frequent reports in the media of the skills shortages facing the industry and it is acknowledged as one of the biggest challenges. The limited data available about the labour market (which was tested at Oil & Gas UK’s skills conference in September 2012) show that the critical areas of shortage are in a number of mid-career, onshore roles, including design engineering, subsea and drilling engineering, project management and geosciences. Technicians and skilled craftsmen are also in short supply because of the high volume of activity. The shortages are partly due to reductions implemented when the oil price has been low in the past, as in the 1990s, but they are also very much a consequence of the current success of the industry. The skills, expertise and technology developed on the UKCS are highly sought after by other oil and gas provinces around the world; competition for skills is truly international. Supply chain companies have highlighted the mid-career gap and have been working with the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply to develop accredited courses. However, the large number of applicants for the Upstream Oil and Gas Industry Technician Training Scheme and companies’ graduate schemes indicates that the industry is attracting new entrants straight from school and university. During the past year, Oil & Gas UK has been working with industry to identify where and to what extent co-operation across the industry can help tackle the demand for skills. A number of actions have been identified, including:

16 See http://www.opito.com

59

ECONOMIC REPORT 2013