More younger people are working offshore in the oil and gas sector but skills retention in the industry remains a challenge, according to a report released today.
Oil & Gas UK’s 2011 Workforce Demographics Report found a rising trend over the past five years in the overall number of people aged under 30 travelling to offshore installations in UK waters.
However, it also showed a net loss of people in the age range of 30 to 60 years.
The average age of those travelling to work offshore, nearly 50,000 in total during 2010, was 41. Of the 50,000, some 21,896 were core workers, spending 100 or more nights offshore.
Malcolm Webb, chief executive of Oil & Gas UK, said: “I am delighted to see the rising trend in young people working in the offshore environment.
“This points to the success of the industry’s technician training schemes and graduate programmes.
“However, the loss of experienced workers is of concern and fast-track development programmes are now in place to address ongoing skills shortages in certain occupations.”
Oil & Gas UK, the industry body, said older workers leavings jobs left vacancies needing to be filled by skilled and experienced workers, with demand often outstripping supply and raising concerns about a possible future shortage of supervisors.
The report, based on figures from the Vantage offshore system, also found the average age of female workers was 35.6 for the second year running, with the number of women travelling offshore falling slightly from 1,895 to 1,833.
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