October 2013
Featured in this insight: Financial services, Oil & gas
Survey shows wages are set to rise in oil and gas sector due to skills shortage: Oil and gas companies have revealed that the average wage in the industry is set to rise by over a tenth (15%) this year from £64,000 to £73,600 due to a severe shortage in qualified staff. Seven tenths (70%) of oil and gas companies were worried that wages in the industry were rising too fast, according to a recent survey of 2,200 Oil and Gas companies by the oilandgaspeople.com.
The survey of oil and gas companies found they blamed different reasons for the skills shortage; with a third (35%) suggesting it has been caused by too little investment in apprenticeships due to an assumption that North Sea Oil was in decline; two fifths (37%) suggested that the industry did not expect the success of new technology to pump low-grade oil, so recent growth and investment was unexpected; while almost half (46%) suggested the skills shortage in the UK had been caused by growing demand for UK staff to work abroad.
Kevin Forbes, CEO of Oilandgaspeople.com, said:
“Our survey shows that with increased investment in North Sea Oil, demand for qualified staff is set to reach an all-time high, which will exacerbate an already serious skills shortage, a problem that is being further exacerbated as UK candidates head abroad to earn even higher wages with a huge demand for qualified expats globally.”
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