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Oil and gas transformation sees shift in labour requirements

Last Updated Sep 27, 2017 at 12:52 pm MDT

(Photo by Chelsey Harms/660 NEWS)

The oil and gas industry continues to undergo massive changes, especially when it comes to labour.

Not only is the pool of oil and gas workers shrinking but companies that are hiring are trying to address a skills shortage.

A lot of work in the industry is done digitally now and that is creating some new challenges.

“That may mean that while there are fewer folks on the rig floor, you may need some people who can monitor software systems that operate these rigs, and fix those and reprogram it,” said Enform Canada President Cameron MacGillivray.

He explained companies need to identify people with those skill sets.

“That could mean new kinds of people or it could mean re-training the current people that you have in areas like digitization and automated services and data systems.” he said.

But companies still need those traditional, conventionally skilled workers like, for example, East Coasters, and even they are becoming harder to find.

“They’re now employed by Sobeys in Nova Scotia perhaps and have a regular full-time job in a comfortable environment,” said MacGillivray. “To get them to come back into the industry for several months of work is a real challenging effort.”

There is also scepticism about the future of oil and gas and he said industry needs to explain it’s still viable, but MacGillivray stressed the important thing to remember is there are still jobs to be had.

In a low commodity price environment, productivity has never been more important, but MacGillivray said the key is productivity per employee.

“How can the industry look forward to making continued improvements with a reduced workforce and when they have to throttle up if it does improve, how can they throttle up in a way that ensures growth in productivity as opposed to less productivity for an employee?” he explained.