Salaries in the oil and gas sector have in general been rising between 5-12%, according to the survey – outstripping a 1.5% national average across all industries.
Some firms have reported it being as much as 20%, with firms also offering increased benefits and incentives to recruit and retain staff.
According to the study, all oil and gas operating companies and 94% of contractors have increased wages.
Aberdeen remotely operated vehicle firm ROVOP said that to attract and retain staff, in some cases it had seen wage inflation of 15-20%. Subsea engineering firm Jee said it increased its overall pay packages 20% last year after a review to keep it competitive.
In a hunt for a mid-level senior manager, one North Sea oil company ended up offering a salary of £160,000, up from the £140,000 it had originally intended to pay, a specialist recruiter told the Press and Journal.
Most in demand are people with 10 to 15 years’ experience, said Mark Charman, group chief executive of Faststream Recruitment.
According to recruitment firm Hays, the average permanent North Sea oil worker’s salary in 2011 was £87,000. It said salaries were particularly strong in the drilling and subsea sectors, attracting wages of £30,900-£142,000 and £38,000-£225,000 respectively, depending on experience. Oil firm BP said these were two areas it found it had to work harder to recruit the right people.
Salaries for geoscience and reservoir/petroleum engineering disciplines were also strong.
According to the Society of Petroleum Engineers 2011 member salary survey, basic wages plus other compensation, such as pension or healthcare benefits, in the North Sea and North Atlantic region were an average of £119,000 – a rise of 5.1% on 2010.
The highest paid were executives on an average of £252,000.
Technicians or specialists were listed as averaging £77,000.
Mark Charman, group chief executive of Faststream Recruitment, said senior or principal engineers were currently getting in excess of £75-80,000 and graduate engineers starting on £35,000.
But the North Sea/North Atlantic was not the highest paying region, according to the Society of Petroleum Engineer.
Oceania and Australia, including New Zealand, saw average wages, including benefits, of £150,000 – some £31,000 more than the North Sea and up 8.1% compared to the previous year.
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