International energy service company Wood Group is planning to take on a further 700 Aberdeen-based employees in the next 12 months to keep up with demand for its services.
The company revealed yesterday it had added several thousand people worldwide over the past year.
The global headcount jumped from more than 38,000 to more than 43,000 in 2012.
In the UK, Wood Group hired more than 500 people in the 12 months to June 2013 and is looking to recruit at least a further 1,000 people in the UK across all its divisions in the next 12 months.
Around 700 of the new staff will either work in Aberdeen or will work offshore and operate from the city.
Chief executive Bob Keiller said: “Wood Group is expanding continuously across the globe. To meet strong client demand, we have hired more than 4,000 people worldwide in the past year.
“The global oil and gas industry is facing a skills shortage and we are working hard to ensure we have the right talent coming in to our business.”
In the UK, Wood Group holds regular job roadshows which thousands of people attend. The group also invests in apprenticeships, interns, graduate and military-recruitment schemes targeting people looking for careers in the oil and gas and power-generation industries.
In the US, part of Wood Group’s recruitment strategy includes campaigns such as “open houses”, which it says are an effective way to bring prospective employees directly to the business to tour the facilities.
Mr Keiller added: “We offer training to people from outside the sector with appropriate transferable skills, so they can develop the new capabilities our sector requires. We are also working with schools, colleges and universities to ensure the next generations are aware of the exciting and challenging opportunities we offer to build a long-term career.
“Our business is all about people; it is the people that work for us today and those that will work for us tomorrow that will make us successful.”
James Bream, research and policy director at Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, said the Wood Group announcement underlined the confidence the company has in the north-east economy and highlighted the skilled workforce based locally.
But he added: “Its concerns about the skills shortage echo our findings in the recent oil and gas survey which identified the need to address this issue.
“However, the oil and gas sector cannot address this by itself.”
Mr Bream also said that, to grow and retain the talent pool required delivery of infrastructure alongside investment in housing, culture and leisure, and improvements to the city centre to make sure it was fitting of a globally competitive location.
Aberdeen City Council leader Barney Crockett said: “Business in Aberdeen is booming.
“The city is attracting a huge amount of national and international interest and investment and is growing at an impressive pace.
“The Wood Group’s continued success and creation of 700 jobs in Aberdeen reflects the general picture in the city. Aberdeen is the UK’s opportunity city and a fantastic place in which to invest, live and visit.
“I wish the company continued success.”
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