Workforce Survey Reveals Oil and Gas Compensation Up, Workers in High Demand

HOUSTON, TX--(Marketwire - Mar 11, 2013) - A new report published today by OilCareers.com, the international jobs board targeting the worldwide oil and gas sector, and partner Air Energi, a global provider of manpower solutions to the energy sector, finds that the continuing shortage of skilled labor in the oil and gas industry coupled with expanding demand, presents a significant workforce challenge and jeopardizes safety standards in the industry.

The Global Oil & Gas Workforce Survey: Expectations for hires and pay rates in the oil and gas industry (H1) 2013, emphasizes that heightened safety concerns, economic instability and a strong oil price, along with the ongoing skills shortage -- particularly in the LNG and subsea sectors -- will continue the trend for oil related salaries to push upwards.

While economic instability currently ranks as the highest concern for those surveyed, the shortage of skilled labor in the industry is a major consideration with far-reaching consequences for safety and security within the industry. Nearly one third of survey participants identified the ongoing skills shortage as the biggest threat to the sector, while a lack of skilled trainers was identified as a major training issue by more than 20 percent.

While the news is troubling for the industry, employees in oil and gas benefit from higher wages in the face of labor force shortages and significant industry growth. In particular, employee packages are seeing a general upward trend, in particular for those positions considered to be high risk.

"The recent tragic events in Algeria have underscored existing safety concerns throughout the oil and gas industry," said Mark Guest, managing director of OilCareers.com. "Positions in certain geographic areas have historically attracted higher compensation to reflect the safety issues tied to the work location. It is clear, though, that the industry must concentrate on developing the workforce in order to ensure knowledge is passed on and the required experience is in place to manage the world's oil and gas reserves."

Increasingly high levels of activity currently under way have contributed to a strong candidates' market, though rates remain stable and the trend toward permanent hires versus contractors observed in 2012 continues. Fortunately, the US still holds a long-standing pool from which to recruit from.

Throughout the United States, 2013 is expected to continue to be a big year for operators with the rapid development of shale gas and shale oil plays affecting the world energy spectrum, even over the past six months. Canada and Alaska are also ramping up significantly as the development of Arctic reserves becomes a reality.

"The skills shortage is a major challenge the industry must overcome to continue to thrive," said Ian Langley, group executive chairman of Air Energi. "The shortage of subsea and LNG personnel is being felt throughout the industry with significant effect in terms of project costs and delays. It's clear that without the right people on the ground we won't get the reserves out of the ground."

The Global Oil & Gas Workforce Survey: Expectations for hires and pay rates in the oil and gas industry (H1) 2013 surveyed more than 170,000 oil and gas professionals worldwide. The seven major oil and gas producing regions are represented in the survey with respondents being drawn from over 50 countries. More than 15,500 were either direct recruiters or senior decision makers.

The full report, including specifics for each international region, is available for review at http://www.oilcareers.com/onstream/workforce-survey/.

About OilCareers.com

Launched in 1999, OilCareers (www.oilcareers.com) was one of the first niche job boards targeting the worldwide oil and gas sector. The business attracts an international client and candidate base and carries around 18,000 jobs per month for an impressive range of clients, including many of the world's leading oil operators and service companies.

Key statistics for OilCareers.com:

• Over 1.5m visits from 193 countries per month

• 750,000+ searchable CVs

• 18,000+ vacancies per month

• 8m+ page impressions per month

• 20,000+ new candidate registrations per month

About Air Energi

Air Energi (www.airenergi.com) has been a trusted provider of expertise to the energy sector for over three decades, employing over 2,000 consultants and is now operational in over 50 countries. We aim to build long-term relationships with all our partners, to help achieve a commercially satisfactory outcome to every project and to maintain those relationships on successive projects into the future. Our unique consultancy approach, problem-solving skills and comprehensive service provision enables us to provide significant benefits to our clients and puts us at the forefront of international energy projects.