A leading member of the Scottish Government’s Energy Taskforce said the oil and gas industry needs to be “realistic” about the challenges facing the sector.
Maggie McGinlay, a senior energy director for Scottish Enterprise, spoke to Energy Voice after BP confirmed it would shed 20% of its North Sea workforce this year.
The firm confirmed 600 jobs would go in the North Sea.
Oil major BP plans axe a total of 4,000 jobs this year – 600 in the North Sea and 3,400 from across its Upstream business.
Speaking to Energy Voice, McGinlay said: “We have to be realistic about the nature of the job losses. It’s very much looking at the long-term future in Scotland and making sure that we are doing all the right things so that we provide as strong a future as possible. That’s looking around costs efficiencies, looking at the culture and how it needs to change and supporting business. It’s about helping businesses to look at international opportunities.
“It’s about supporting individuals and tackling all the issues so we have got a long-term future.”
When pressed on what the taskforce was doing to safeguard jobs, McGinlay responded: “The taskforce is doing everything it can. What’s been important has been the jobs fairs that have been held. More than 2,000 people have been engaged with.”
She added: “It must be difficult and demoralising for those who are looking for jobs. The main way we can help people is through Skills Development Scotland. They are very much part of the task force and they are there to help people to look at their CVs and what their skills set is. We are always trying to work harder with the employers to help them look at what they need to do to survive and grow.
“We want to reassure people that there’s a huge amount being done at the Scottish Government level and the UK Government is very concerned.”
The string of recent job losses has pushed historical commercial behaviours into the sector’s spotlight, according to the energy director.
She said: “I feel that industry has risen to the challenges. I feel that people are recognising that this does feel different to previous downturns and the way that some of the processes and behaviours need to change. The North Sea is a more mature province and the challenges are different. That’s where the taskforce and others have been focused on.
“There’s a need to do things differently and committing to do that longer term. In Scotland our figures are that around 8,000 jobs have been directly impacted. I recognise there have also been indirect job losses. There’s always more that we can all to do reach out to individuals.”
More job fairs are part of the solution, according to McGinlay.
She added: “We are working hard to make sure there is a strong future for the oil and gas industry and future employees. We recognise the current climate is very hard but we will do all we can to make sure there is the support available.”
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