Air Liquide and Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company (Orpic), Oman’s national refining company, recently signed a long-term agreement for the supply of nitrogen to the Liwa Plastics Industries Complex (LPIC)

To coincide with SOGAT 2017, which took place from 26-30 March in Abu Dhabi, Adriano Gentilucci, commercial director – IMEA for Dow Oil, Gas and Mining, discusses how Dow is contributing to tackling the region’s gas treatment challenges

The first Global Energy Talent Index (GETI), which surveyed more than 16,000 energy professionals globally across the oil and gas, renewables, power, nuclear and petrochemicals sectors, reveals a significant difference in expectations between hiring managers and candidates

The report by Airswift, the global workforce solutions provider for the energy, process and infrastructure sectors, and Energy Jobline, the world’s leading jobsite for the energy and engineering industries, indicates that energy candidates are more optimistic than hiring managers, with 48 per cent of Middle East professionals predicting an increase in salaries over the next 18 months – compared to just 25 per cent of those hiring.

Janette Marx, chief operating officer at Airswift, says, “It’s absolutely essential that hiring managers and employees are on the same page if the energy industry is to continue attracting and retaining the talent it needs for a successful future. But at the moment there’s a bit of a mismatch – and not just about the prospect of a pay rise. For instance, a quarter of hiring managers across the sector think that the corporate brand is the most important factor in attracting jobseekers, when in fact the workforce values salary, location and professional development most highly.”  

Key findings within oil and gas include:

• Three-quarters of hiring managers think the oil and gas sector faces a talent shortage, with respondents in the Middle East citing key reasons for skills shortages as loss of manpower due to an ageing workforce and tighter immigration policies

• Graduates are shying away from the oil and gas industry due to perceptions about an ageing workforce and environmental concerns when compared to newer technologically-driven green sectors

• Almost half of oil and gas professionals expect the sector to recover in the next 12 months, but nearly two-thirds of hiring managers expect it to take more than a year

• Oil and gas professionals cite North America, the Middle East and Europe as their preferred regions to work

• The most valued benefit for Middle East professionals is a health plan.

Hannah Peet, managing director at Energy Jobline, says, “The oil and gas sector has endured one of its most prolonged and devastating downturns to date. But the industry is incredibly resilient and the sharing of new ideas is helping to get it back on its feet.

“When the dust settles, hiring managers will need to be smart in thinking about how they attract new talent. Gone are the days of expensive bidding wars, offering candidates ever-increasing salaries.”

The report is available to download at http://www.getireport.com/download-report.

Gulf Petrochem Group announced last week that its Board of Directors has appointed Rakesh Mehra as strategic advisor for the group, effective immediately