ECONOMIC REPORT 2013
58
Employment
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:
• 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.
Figure 41: Offshore Employment by Home Address
Source: Vantage
