Report from Oil & Gas UK: Offshore Worker Numbers Continue to Grow in UK Oil and Gas
Oil & Gas UK’s 2013 Offshore Demographics Report published today (26June) reveals that the UK’s core offshore workforce, which comprises those who spend over 100 nights a year offshore, grew in 2012 to 25,760, the largest since the first report in 2006. Almost 57,000 people travelled offshore in total, nine per cent more than in 2011.
3. UKCS OFFSHORE WORKFORCE DEMOGRAPHICS REPORT 2013
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Contents
1. Foreword 4
2. Executive Summary 5
3. Introduction 6
4. Total Workforce 7
5. Core Workforce 14
5.1 Comparative Trends of the Core Workforce 17
6. Residential Locations and Nationalities of the Workforce 20
6.1 Residential Locations 20
6.2 Workforce Nationalities 21
7. Female Workforce 23
8. Age Analysis 25
9. Skills Activity Update 30
4. UKCS OFFSHORE WORKFORCE DEMOGRAPHICS REPORT 2013
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1. Foreword
The UK oil and gas industry has been active since the mid-1960s and has grown, now requiring around 26,000
workers who regularly travel offshore, alongside the hundreds of thousands who work onshore.
To ensure a continued, sufficient supply of skilled people to service UK oil and gas production, it is important
that the industry understands the workforce profile and how it changes over time.
Oil & Gas UK’s most recent forecasts highlight record investment in new developments, growing interest
in exploring for new reserves and fields that are expected to produce into the 2040s1
. Developing an
understanding of the workforce profile is therefore more important than ever in meeting the growing and
long-term demand for a skilled workforce.
This is Oil & Gas UK’s seventh annual UK Continental Shelf Offshore Workforce Demographics Report and is
designed to help companies understand current trends and to plan ahead. It considers how the composition
of the offshore workforce has changed from 2006 to 2012, with particular attention paid to age, gender and
residential location.
Oil & Gas UK is actively developing and helping to drive forward a number of industry programmes to sustain
the supply of workers throughout the sector. These initiatives include, but are not limited to, improving the
perception of the industry as a place to build a career, helping to encourage the uptake of Science, Technology,
Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects in schools, and supporting the transition of skilled people in the
mid-career phase from other sectors.
We hope you enjoy reading the report. Any queries should be directed to Oil & Gas UK’s employment and
skills issues manager, Dr Alix Thom, on athom@oilandgasuk.co.uk
Alix Thom
Employment and Skills Issues Manager
1
Oil & Gas UK’s Activity Survey 2013 is available to download at: http://www.oilandgasuk.co.uk/forecasts.cfm
5. UKCS OFFSHORE WORKFORCE DEMOGRAPHICS REPORT 2013
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2. Executive Summary
The data used in this report came from the Vantage Personnel On Board (POB) system and have been analysed
to identify trends in the UK oil and gas industry offshore workforce.
The following summarises the key findings for 2012:
• A total of 56,982 people travelled offshore in 2012, which is the highest number since 2006 when data were
first analysed and nearly a nine per cent increase from 2011 when 52,300 employees travelled offshore.
• The core workforce (those working over 100 nights per year offshore) remained at approximately
45 per cent of the total workforce, reflecting the continuing stability of these roles. At 25,760, the number
of core workers is at its highest since 2006 and represents an increase of 8.4 per cent from 2011 when
there were 23,758 core workers.
• Three and a half times more non-operator personnel than operator personnel travelled offshore in 2012.
The total number of personnel travelling offshore increased by five per cent and ten per cent from 2011
to 2012 for operators and non-operators, respectively.
• Over eighty per cent of the total number of workers travelling offshore are of British nationality.
• Female employees represented 3.75 per cent (2,138) of the total offshore population in 2012, of which 753
are core workers. This is an increase of only 0.05 per cent from 2011.
• The average age of the offshore workforce was 41.1 years. This is similar to the average age recorded over
the last seven years; the lowest during that time was 40.4 years in 2009.
• 2012 saw an increase in employees travelling offshore in all age brackets. There was a 13.7 per cent rise in
the number of workers under the age of 30.
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3. Introduction
This report presents up-to-date analysis of demographics data for the offshore workforce from 2006 to
2012. The data are extracted from the Vantage Personnel On Board (POB) system, which is used to track the
movements of personnel to and from offshore installations. The data are collected in two groups – the total
numbers travelling offshore and the core workforce (those working over 100 nights per year offshore).
The report will consider the differences that arise between the core and total workforce and between
operatorandnon-operatorworkers,aswellasanalysingtheworkers’UKresidentiallocations,thenationalities
represented by the workforce, the female demographic and the age profile of the workforce and how this
has changed.
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4. Total Workforce
At 56,982, 2012 saw the highest total number of workers travelling off shore on the UK Conti nental Shelf
(UKCS) since 2006, when data were fi rst analysed. This is an increase of nearly nine per cent from 2011 when
52,300 employees travelled off shore, which is the most signifi cant year-on-year increase, and nearly a 14 per
cent increase from 2006.
Figure 1: Total Number of Personnel who Travelled Offshore from 2006 to 2012
46,000
48,000
50,000
52,000
54,000
56,000
58,000
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
NumberofPersonnel
Years
8. UKCS OFFSHORE WORKFORCE DEMOGRAPHICS REPORT 2013
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Figure 2 below illustrates the spread of the total workforce between those working for operators and those
working for non-operators (companies which are not producti on operators). In 2006, there were fi ve and a
half ti mes more employees for non-operators than operators. However, this has fl uctuated between three to
three and a half ti mes more from 2007 to 2012.
Figure 2: Total Personnel Travelling Offshore for Operators and Non-Operators from 2006 to 2012
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
NumberofPersonnel
Years
Operator Non-Operator Total
9. UKCS OFFSHORE WORKFORCE DEMOGRAPHICS REPORT 2013
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Of the total off shore workforce in 2012, 17.7 per cent (10,086) travelled off shore for ten nights or less
(see fi gure 3 below). The non-core workforce (who works less than 100 nights per year off shore) will have
predominantly onshore jobs with the requirement to travel off shore occasionally. It must also be noted that
there may be a number of new starts to the core workforce (who work 100-plus nights per year) who have
not yet spent over 100 nights off shore.
Figure 3: The Number of Nights Spent Offshore by the Non-Core Workforce in 2012
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
0 - 10 11 - 20 21 - 30 31 - 40 41 - 50 51 - 60 61 - 70 71 - 80 81 - 90 91 - 100
NumberofPersonnel
Number of Nights
10. UKCS OFFSHORE WORKFORCE DEMOGRAPHICS REPORT 2013
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Last year’s report plotted for the first time the total number of workers travelling offshore against the oil
price, which showed a correlation between the number of personnel and oil price with a time lag of one year.
The same correlation can be seen in Figure 4 below for 2012. If this trend is to continue, we would expect
to see a plateau in the number of personnel in 2013. However, increasing levels of investment and activity
on the UKCS2
mean the industry may in fact see a further increase in the number of personnel as new or
rescheduled projects start. Next year’s figures should therefore give an indication as to the veracity of the
correlation seen so far.
Figure 4: The Total Number of Personnel Travelling Offshore between 2006 and 2012,
Plotted Alongside the Average Oil Price ($)
2
Oil & Gas UK’s Activity Survey 2013 is available to download at: http://www.oilandgasuk.co.uk/forecasts.cfm
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
40,000
42,000
44,000
46,000
48,000
50,000
52,000
54,000
56,000
58,000
60,000
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
AverageOilPriceper$perBarrel
NumberofPersonnel
Years
Total Number of Personnel
Oil Price / $
11. UKCS OFFSHORE WORKFORCE DEMOGRAPHICS REPORT 2013
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49%
20%
10%
6%
4%
3% 2% 2% 1% 3%
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10+
Figures 5 and 6 below illustrate that nearly half the number of personnel travelled off shore to a single locati on
with the majority working for a single operator.
Figure 5: The Number of Locations Visited Offshore by the Total Workforce in 2012
Figure 6: The Number of Operators Worked for by the Total Workforce in 2012
0%
65%
18%
8%
4%
2% 3%
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
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The largest proporti on of the total off shore workforce travelled to the central North Sea in 2012, which is the
most developed basin on the UKCS. The second largest populati on travelled to multi ple sectors.
Figure 7: Geographic Distribution of the Total Workforce on the UK Continental Shelf
No. of Males &
Females
No. of Males No. of Females
No. of Males &
Females
No. of Males No. of Females
No. of Males &
Females
No. of Males No. of Females
No. of Males &
Females
No. of Males No. of Females
No. of Males &
Females
No. of Males No. of Females
No. of Males &
Females
No. of Males No. of Females
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The west of Shetland has seen the largest increase of 117 per cent in terms of the total number of workers
travelling to the sector from 2006 to 2012. There has been a 116.5 and a 133.3 per cent increase in the
number of males and females travelling to the sector, respectively. The northern North Sea has seen the
second largest increase from 2006 to 2012; in particular, there has been a large increase of 53.6 per cent in
the number of female employees travelling to this sector.
Figure 8: Difference in the Geographic Distribution of the Total Workforce between 2006 and 2012
3
Earliest Morecambe Bay figures recorded are from 2009 and not 2006
No. of
Males
No. of
Females
No. of
Males
No. of
Females
No. of
Males
No. of
Females
Central North Sea 21,805 903 23,818 1,071 9.2 18.6
Northern North Sea 6,255 181 7,673 278 22.7 53.6
Southern North Sea 5,522 208 5,733 189 3.8 -9.1
Morecambe Bay3
814 30 783 39 -3.8 30
West of Shetland 1,146 63 2,481 147 116.5 133.3
Multiple Sectors 12,959 385 14,356 414 10.8 7.5
Sectors 2006 2012 % Difference, 2006 to 2012
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5. Core Workforce
The core workforce is defined as those workers who work offshore for more than 100 nights per year.
This captures either the common offshore work patterns of equal time (two weeks on, two weeks off/three
weeks on, three weeks off) or two weeks on, three weeks off.
In 2012, the core workforce was at its highest level in recent years with 25,760 personnel, representing an
8.4 per cent increase from 2011, when there were 23,758 core workers, and a 17.6 per cent increase from 2010,
when there were 21,896 core workers. This rise in the number of core employees reflects the investment in
new developments and improvements to existing assets and infrastructure.
Figure 9: Number of Core Personnel Travelling Offshore from 2006 to 2012
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
NumberofCorePersonnel
Years
Core Workers
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The core workforce, as in 2011, conti nues to account for approximately 45 per cent of the total workforce
who travelled off shore in 2012.
Figure 10: Total Versus Core Personnel who Travelled Offshore from 2006 to 2012
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
NumberofPersonnel
Years
Total Core Workers
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Similar to the total workforce, half of the core workers travelled off shore to a single locati on with the majority
working for a single operator in 2012.
Figure 11: The Number of Locations Visited Offshore by the Core Workforce in 2012
Figure 12: The Number of Operators Worked for by the Core Workforce in 2012
50%
20%
9%
6%
4%
3%
2% 2%
1% 3%
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10+
67%
17%
6%
4%
3% 3%
1
2
3
4
5
6+
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5.1 Comparative Trends of the Core Workforce
The change in the number of core workers has been plotted alongside a range of different metrics in figures
13 to 17 below to identify any notable correlations or trends.
The number of core personnel, like the total workforce (see section 4), correlates with the oil price with a
lag of one year (see figure 13 below). The red dotted projection line (based on historical data) forecasts an
increase in the number of core personnel over the next two years. The actual figure for 2012 is already slightly
higher than the line of projection but, if the correlation between the number of personnel and the oil price
holds true, we would expect to see numbers plateau next year.
Figure 13: The Number of Core Personnel Travelling Offshore between 2006 and 2012, with Projected
Figures to 2014, Plotted Alongside the Oil Price ($)
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
OilPriceper$perBarrel
NumberofCorePersonnel
Years
Core Workers Oil Price / $
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Although producti on and drilling acti vity declined, the core workforce travelling off shore has increased from
2010 to 2012 (as discussed on page 14). The decline in oil and gas producti on year on year is broadly in
line with the trend seen since 2005. However since 2010, producti on fell by 30 per cent in just two years.
Oil & Gas UK’s Activity Survey att ributes this to the slowdown in investment which reached a low point in
2008 to 2009, extended planned maintenance shutdowns and a number of unplanned shutdowns.
Figure 14: The Relationship between the Number of Core Workers and Production Figures
from 2006 to 2012
Figure 15: The Relationship between the Number of Core Workers and Drilling Activity from 2006 to 2012
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
ProductionperMillionBarrelsofOilEquivalentperDay
NumberofPersonnel
Years
Core Workers
Production
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
NumberofWells
NumberofPersonnel
Years
Appraisal
Exploration
Development
Core Workers
19. UKCS OFFSHORE WORKFORCE DEMOGRAPHICS REPORT 2013
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Figure 16: The Relationship between the Number of Core Workers and Overall Expenditure from
2006 to 2012
Figure 17: The Relationship between the Number of Core Workers and the Operating and Capital
Expenditure Costs from 2006 to 2012
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
0
5
10
15
20
25
NumberofPersonnel
Years
£Billion
Exploration & Appraisal Costs
Development Costs
Operating Costs
Core Workers
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
£Billion
Years
NumberofPersonnel
Operating Costs
Capital Expenditure Costs
Core Workers
20. UKCS OFFSHORE WORKFORCE DEMOGRAPHICS REPORT 2013
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6. Residential Locations and Nationalities of the Workforce
6.1 Residential Locations
The map below (figure 18) shows the UK home addresses of personnel working offshore on the UKCS. It
illustrates that the majority of offshore workers, just over half, live in Scotland. Twenty-five per cent of the
total workforce lives in the north east of Scotland, with significant numbers living on the east coast and along
the central belt.
Roughly 30 per cent of the total offshore workforce has a registered postcode in England. The key areas are
the north east, north west and East Anglia. This correlates with the presence of the fabrication industry in
and around Newcastle, as well as oil and gas operations at Morecambe Bay and areas close to Humberside,
which is a flight base for travelling to the southern North Sea.
Figure 18: A Map Illustrating the UK Home Addresses of all Workers on the UK Continental Shelf
Number of
Personnel
21. UKCS OFFSHORE WORKFORCE DEMOGRAPHICS REPORT 2013
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6.2 Workforce Nati onaliti es
In 2012, 47,192 of the personnel who travelled off shore were of Briti sh nati onality, which is 82.8 per cent
of the total off shore workforce and an increase of 8.8 per cent from 2006 when 43,387 employees were of
Briti sh nati onality.
Figure 19: The Number of Offshore Workers of British Nationality from 2006 to 2012
The breakdown of nati onaliti es represented by the UKCS workforce has also been analysed. The breadth of
countries represented (shown in light green in the map below) demonstrates the workforce’s diversity and
the industry’s signifi cant global reach for employment.
Figure 20: A Map Showing the Nationalities Working Offshore on the UK Continental Shelf. The Countries
Shown in Light Green are Represented by Employees
39,000
40,000
41,000
42,000
43,000
44,000
45,000
46,000
47,000
48,000
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
NumberofPersonnel
Years
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The breakdown of non-British nationalities working offshore on the UKCS is provided in figure 21 below.
In comparison to 2011, a number of observations can be made:
• The greatest number of non-British employees in 2012 were still Norwegian, followed by the Dutch and
employees from the USA.
• The proportion of Canadians, French, Germans, Polish, Irish and Lithuanians working on the UKCS declined
in 2012.
• The proportion of Maltese employees declined, dropping out of the top ten non-British nationalities
working on the UKCS.
• The Danish employees were a new entry in the top ten in 2012, accounting for 3.5 per cent of the offshore
population from outside the UK.
Figure 21: The Top Ten Non-British Nationalities Working on the UK Continental Shelf
Nationality
Proportion of
Non-British Workers
No. of Personnel
Norwegian 15% 1,473
Dutch 9.4% 918
American (USA) 4.7% 464
Polish 4.4% 429
Irish 3.5% 344
Danish 3.5% 340
French 2.5% 247
Canadian 2.3% 230
Lithuanian 2.1% 201
German 1.9% 188
Other 50.6% 4,956
Total No. of
Non-British Employees
9,790
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7. Female Workforce
Since 2006, the industry has seen an increase of 18.7 per cent in the total number of females travelling
off shore. However, this is just a 0.15 per cent increase in the proporti on of female employees relati ve to the
total workforce populati on. This confi rms that the industry has a long way to go to increase gender diversity.
In 2012, 2,138 females travelled off shore, representi ng 3.75 per cent of the total off shore workforce and
an increase of 0.05 per cent from 2011. Of the female employees, 753 were core workers and 763 travelled
off shore for 10 nights or less.
The distributi on of females across the various age ranges has remained fairly constant since 2006, with the
highest number of females falling into the 24 to 29 age bracket in 2012 (see fi gure 22 below). From the age of
30 there is a decline in the number of females travelling off shore.
Figure 22: Female Offshore Population Versus Male Population, 2012
Under
18
18 - 23 24 - 29 30 - 34 35 - 39 40 - 44 45 - 49 50 - 54 55 - 59 60 - 64 65+
Female 0 122 620 419 310 238 194 151 64 15 5
Male 17 3,205 8,799 7,746 7,214 7,455 7,124 6,112 4,370 2,361 441
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
7,000
8,000
9,000
10,000
NumberofPersonnel
Age in Years
Female
Male
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Figures 23 and 24 below show that 28 per cent of the total number of female employees (around 600) work
in the catering discipline. The number of females in catering has increased year on year with the exception of
2010 to 2011. Other key disciplines in which females work offshore are as follows: maintenance (219 – 10.2
per cent), health, safety and environment (106 – five per cent) and medical (89 – four per cent).
It should be noted that there were 324 females (15 per cent) with ‘unknown’ in the job role field on Vantage.
Figure 23: A Comparison of the Total Number of Female Workers with those in Non-Catering Roles
between 2006 and 2012
Figure 24: The Total Number of Female Workers and those in Non-Catering Roles between 2006 and 2012
Year All
Excluding
Catering
2006 1,756 1,279
2007 1,881 1,386
2008 1,887 1,362
2009 1,895 1,326
2010 1,833 1,289
2011 1,930 1,371
2012 2,138 1,539
1,000
1,200
1,400
1,600
1,800
2,000
2,200
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
NumberofFemaleWorkers
Years
Excluding Catering
All Female Workers
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8. Age Analysis
The average age of the total off shore workforce was 41.1 years in 2012. This has remained fairly constant
since 2006, staying in the range of 40 to 41 years.
Figure 25 below illustrates that, as the workforce increases, the greatest growth can be seen in young and
middle aged personnel as opposed to those in older age groups. This data should dispel the percepti on that
the off shore workforce is an ageing workforce.
Figure 25: The Age Profile of the Offshore Workforce from 2010 to 2012
0
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
1,400
1,600
1,800
2,000
18 23 28 33 38 43 48 53 58 63 68 73
NumberofPersonnel
Age
2012 Figures
2011 Figures
2010 Figures
26. UKCS OFFSHORE WORKFORCE DEMOGRAPHICS REPORT 2013
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Encouragingly, the figures reveal that in 2012 there were two and a half times more people in the age bracket
23 to 28 than in the age bracket of 60 to 65.
Figure 26: The Number of Workers Aged 23 to 28 Compared with those Aged 60 to 65 in 2012
0
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
1,400
1,600
1,800
2,000
18 23 28 33 38 43 48 53 58 63 68 73
NumberofPersonnel
Age
7,940 Workers
Aged 23 to 28
3,083 Workers
Aged 60 to 65
27. UKCS OFFSHORE WORKFORCE DEMOGRAPHICS REPORT 2013
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2012 saw an increase in employees in all age brackets. The largest rise compared with 2011 is in the 30 to
34 age range of 15.7 per cent, and there was also a 13.7 per cent rise in the number of workers under 30.
This is encouraging, although the industry sti ll needs to conti nue to retain and att ract mid-career personnel
(ages 35 to 49).
Figure 27: The Change in the Number of Workers in Each Age Range Since 2011 (Total Workforce)
-200
0
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
Under 18 18 - 23 24 - 29 30 - 34 35 - 39 40 - 44 45 - 49 50 - 54 55 - 59 60 - 64 65+
ChangeintheNumbersofWorkersSince2011
Age
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More broadly, fi gures 28 and 29 compare the workers’ age ranges between 2006 and 2012. This reveals
that 2012 saw a reversal of the previous reducti on in mid-career personnel. However these numbers
remain considerably lower than the growth seen in all other age brackets, illustrati ng a conti nual gap in the
mid-career workforce.
Figure 28: The Change in the Numbers of Workers in Each Age Range for the Total Workforce
between 2006 and 2012 and between 2006 and 2011
Figure 29: The Change in the Numbers of Core Workers in Each Age Range between 2006 and 2012
-1,000
-500
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
Under 18 18 - 23 24 - 29 30 - 34 35 - 39 40 - 44 45 - 49 50 - 54 55 - 59 60 - 64 65+
ChangeintheNumbersofWorkers
Age
2006 - 2012
2006 - 2011
0
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
1,400
Under 18 18 - 23 24 - 29 30 - 34 35 - 39 40 - 44 45 - 49 50 - 54 55 - 59 60 - 64 65+
ChangeintheNumbersofWorkers
Age
29. UKCS OFFSHORE WORKFORCE DEMOGRAPHICS REPORT 2013
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Personnel working for operators display a more even distributi on across the age ranges whereas
non-operators have more employees working in the early to mid-career range, with fewer workers from
the age of 44 years onwards. However, when analysing the 65+ age group, the non-operators have a higher
proporti on of workers in this range than the operators.
Figure 30: Age Profile of Employees for Operators and Non-Operators in 2012
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
7,000
8,000
9,000
Under 18 18 - 23 24 - 29 30 - 34 35 - 39 40 - 44 45 - 49 50 - 54 55 - 59 60 - 64 65+
NumberofPersonnel
Age
Operator
Non-Operator
30. UKCS OFFSHORE WORKFORCE DEMOGRAPHICS REPORT 2013
page 30
9. Skills Activity Update
As the report shows, the drop in personnel in the age range 35 to 49 in 2011 has reversed and the numbers in
that age range increased in 2012, though by smaller numbers than all other age groups apart from those under
23 and over 65. This mid-career gap is replicated in a number of onshore roles, including design engineering,
subsea and drilling engineering, and geosciences. Though this is partly due to cutbacks implemented when
the oil price has fallen substantially in the past, it is also very much a consequence of our success as an
industry. The skills, expertise and technology developed on the UKCS are highly sought after by other oil and
gas provinces around the world; competition for skills is truly global.
The shortage in skilled personnel is cited as one of the biggest challenges for the UK’s offshore oil and
gas industry. During the past year, Oil & Gas UK has been working with industry to identify where, and to
what extent, collaboration can help alleviate this issue. A number of areas for activity have been identified,
including:
• Establishing a high level industry relationship with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) – 18,000 to 20,000
men and women will leave the armed forces in each of the next three years and many of those will have
transferable skills. OPITO is working with the MoD to map and identify skills in industry and military roles.
• Developing discipline work groups to explore the feasibility of transition training/accelerated
development.
• Creating smarter training solutions – for example, through possible development of facilities that could
be used as an assessment/proving centre for skilled workers from other industries and to reduce the
offshore training time required for trainees. A feasibility study is underway for this initiative.
• Lobbying the UK Government on immigration policy to facilitate recruitment of skilled personnel from
non-EU countries.
• Education – pooling resources and effort under the auspices of OPITO so the industry can reach more
schools throughout the UK, more often, and with a consistent message about the importance of and
opportunities afforded by studying STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths).
Though the sector has no difficulties in attracting new trainee entrants to the industry, it is important for
the long term to sustain a pipeline of school leavers and graduates with STEM qualifications, not just for the
long-term success of the industry but for UK plc.
With record levels of investment and high levels of activity on the UKCS, the challenge of increasing the
supply of skilled personnel in the industry will not be resolved in the immediate future. However, a sound
understanding of our labour market and future demands for skills – both on and offshore – are essential to
understanding that challenge and developing additional solutions.