Today yet more individuals and their families have woken up to uncertainty and turmoil as further job losses were announced in our industry yesterday.
While these job cuts will have come as no surprise to an industry which anticipates losing over a quarter of its workforce by the end of this year since its peak in 2014, they are nevertheless a shock to those affected.
And regrettably, as the impact of further job losses trickles down through the supply chain, there will be further pain to come.
The lack of investment in the industry, as a result of the oil price collapse, has led to project cancellations and delays and companies have no choice but to dramatically reduce costs to secure their future and safeguard as many jobs as possible.
In 2013, the fast-growing subsea sector was worth around £9 billion to the UK and supported 53,000 jobs, contributing significantly to our balance of trade with over £4billion in export revenues and recognised as a world-leader with 43% of the global market.
Subsea UK’s recent survey revealed that 90% of subsea companies had seen a fall in revenues, with 28% seeing a drop in sales of between 30-40% and a further 28% losing half or more.
We reckon that around 5,000 to 6,000 jobs have been lost in our sector.
Subsea UK recently took some stark messages to Westminster to hammer home the challenges facing us to our politicians.
Urgent incentives to stimulate investment are required, not only to protect jobs and prolong the life of the North Seas but also to protect our globally recognised supply chain and its ability to drive up UK exports.
We must be careful that we are not cutting too deeply into our capability, losing valuable skills we will need in the recovery, albeit a recovery that is going to be much slower than in previous downturns.
The UK oil industry needs $55 oil just to balance its books, so we are unlikely to see any investment and subsequent activity until we reach around $60 or more.
Even then, there will be a lag and the recovery is going to be a slow and arduous process.
Neil Gordon is chief executive of Subsea UK
Recommended for you
