The Human Dimension of Oil & Gas: Building the Workforce of Tomorrow Begins Today

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) July 16, 2009 --

Hong Kong (July 14 2009)- The Oil & Gas industry remains one of the most resilient sectors in Southeast Asia and has weathered the global economic crisis fairly well so far. At in-depth panel discussions held earlier this month in Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur, industry experts gathered to discuss the development of human capability in this industry. Participants reported that while investments were being deferred due to the current economic cycle, they expect them to be reinstated soon as oil prices stabilize. But in order to take advantage of those investments it was felt that more would need to be done to develop human capabilities in the industry in Indonesia and Malaysia.


The “Talent Crunch”: Quantity and Quality

GlobalEnergyTalent, which convened the panel discussions together with Bo Le Associates, estimate that there will be a 40% global shortage of key engineers & scientists in the energy industry by 2010 and it will take up to 7 years to train and deploy replacements. This gap is in part due to the flight of energy talent to other industries during the oil crunch in the 1980s and 90s which was not replenished adequately.

The panel discussion highlighted that the current issue is now more on quality (skills and attitude of employees) rather than quantity (number of employees). The industry, particularly the upstream sector, requires more experienced professionals because of the more complex nature of exploration today. While panelists debated whether experience can really be taught in the classroom, it was felt that there was a need for fresher approaches to rapid knowledge transfer to younger cohorts including interdisciplinary training, decision sciences and multi-track career planning.


Local talent issues: Reversing the brain drain while maintaining global agility


In addition to the overall talent crunch that besieges the industry worldwide, O&G companies face specific local issues in Indonesia and Malaysia. In Indonesia, panelists noted a “generation gap” and a “glass ceiling” among local professionals. When there is a perceived lack of upward mobility in organizations, professionals often migrate to other regions particularly the Middle East.

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Contacts:

Vikram Singha, V.P. Marketing
Global Energy Talent
+91.124.4729200
vsingha@globalenergytalent.com
www.globalenergytalent.com


Louisa Wong-Rousseau, Group Managing Director
Bó Lè Associates
+852.2913.9393
lwr@bo-le.com
www.bo-le.com

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