Workforce Survey Shows Turnover by 2014

The first oil and natural gas industry workforce survey by the American Petroleum Institute confirms a growing need over the next decade for petroleum engineers and geo-science specialists. The survey, released at the organization’s annual meeting today, was conducted under the auspices of API’s new Workforce Task Force which includes senior human resources officials at API major oil companies and suppliers.

Twenty-two companies responded to the survey by October 1, representing some 17 percent of the total industry workforce, and including a cross-section and mixture of integrated, oil service and independent companies from both the upstream and downstream segments of the industry. Survey participation was open to both API and non-API companies.

Participants were asked to assess what percentage of their workforce was eligible to retire between now and 2009. The survey indicates a large impact on the workforce from retirement five to 10 years out, meaning that companies have time to prepare for this expected turnover in employees.

Survey results indicate the largest areas of need over the next five years are in the fields of Engineering and Geosciences, with hiring needs reaching as high as 38 percent of the current workforce. Hiring needs over that same time period for Operations, Maintenance and Instrumentation / Electrical were found to be 28 percent of the current workforce.

The survey results indicate the top five emerging workforce issues over the next five to 10 years are:

An aging workforce;
Recruiting challenges – locating and hiring needed skill;
Skill pool management – internal talent management;
Attraction and awareness of youth to the energy industry; and
Perception of the industry -- in terms of its future potential, job stability, use of outsourcing and contractors, and safety and environmental records.