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Gold/Mining/Energy : Big Dog's Boom Boom Room -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tomas who wrote (629)	4/20/2001 9:55:20 PM
From: Tomas	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 206338

Staff famine starves oil contractors - Young recruits are shunning cyclical nature of offshore work Upstream, April 20 By Blake Wright Oilfield service contractors have once again bemoaned the lack of available qualified personnel as the industry finds itself short-staffed in the throes of another upswing in activity. Speaking at the 25th annual Marine/Offshore Outlook Conference in Houston, executives from all walks of the offshore service sector voiced deep concerns over the lack of qualified personnel to fill positions being created by the increased demand for drilling and development services. "The biggest threat we as an industry face is the lack of people," said Cal Dive boss Owen Kratz. "It's a huge problem and it's one we just cannot live with." The industry's people problem is compounded by the cyclical nature of the business. The consistent ups and downs have given the business a black eye when it comes to attracting new college graduates. Coupled with the dot.com craze of the past few years that attracted the lion's share of young talent, it has been doubly difficult for the industry to maintain a healthy flow of new recruits. "Over the last 20 years our industry has shed over 1 million jobs," said FMC Energy Systems president Peter Kinnear. "In 1999, a period of low oil prices, the top 10 oil companies reduced their staffs by 38,000 alone. Currently there are only 600 students enrolled in US colleges studying petroleum engineering. It is estimated that roughly 40% of our industry workforce will be of retirement age in the next 10 years," he added. Solutions to the problem are slow in coming. Added incentives, such as paid education and retention bonuses, are common. Increased salaries can cure short-term ills but quickly lose their appeal in the face of job losses during the next downturn. "You have to start thinking globally about your human resource requirements," said Transocean Sedco Forex chief Michael Talbert. "You have to hire globally. We need to tap the world's resource of people in this industry if we are going to solve the five-to-10-year issues. Look at the management ranks of most energy companies today you're going to find some pretty senior people. Over the next five to 10 years, they are going to be gone," he added.