Many surveys suggest growing optimism amongst oil and gas leaders in 2019 following a period of unprecedented uncertainty for the industry.
This optimism is certainly reflected in the number of new course bookings at AIS Training where we have seen a record months for oil and gas courses in January and February. A significant percentage of these bookings have come from businesses - a key indicator of underlying industry growth.
At the end of 2018, Rigzone conducted a survey of worldwide recruiters which showed recruitment up on the previous year and this is expected to increase further in the near future as activity ramps up. This study is supported by the 29th Oil and Gas survey by Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Fraser of Allander Institute and KPMG who found that recruitment in the North Sea is on the rise and business confidence is the highest it’s been since 2013. According to the Oil and Gas survey, 21% of firms have increased their total UK-based workforce by more than 10% in the last 12 months and almost two thirds (65%) of firms expect their level of core staff to increase over the next three years.
Where and what these roles will be is unclear but there are many in-demand career routes to go down in oil and gas from offshore driller to banksman slinger, rigger, rope access operative and blaster painter to name a few. Salaries vary widely depending upon which role you go for but according to the Total Jobs website the average annual salary in January 2019 for an unspecified oil and gas worker was £37,500.
Although traditional jobs in oil and gas such as subsurface and surface engineering will always be important, we know we will start to see changes in the type of roles on offer as digitalisation in the sector is increasingly embraced. Last year’s Oil and Gas UK’s Workforce Report highlighted that up to 10,000 new roles will need to be created over the next 20 years in the industry due to digitisation. The report acknowledges that many of these roles are currently unknown, but it is likely that these will include increasing demand for skills in software engineering and data science, as well as the more established engineering jobs.
Many of the new job opportunities could come from some of the companies we work closely with. For example, our client Wood has won multi-million-dollar contracts in the Middle East, Texas and Sellafield in the last four months alone.
We’re always on the look-out for good news stories about possible new jobs and we’ll post these across our social media channels including Facebook and LinkedIn so watch out. Hopefully there will be some great opportunities coming up this year.
Innovation like digitisation offers exciting possibilities for the sector and it’s something AIS Training has been at the forefront of. All our systems are now powered by our award-winning, tailored ‘Transform’ software, which enables individuals and companies to book courses, upload certificates, and manage all their training needs via the touch of a button. As the industry picks up and everyone gets busy – it’s one less thing for you to have to think about.
CLICK HERE to find out more about Transform and our extensive portfolio of oil and gas skills and competency courses.
