Universities cannot be expected to shoulder the burden of tackling the impending North Sea skills crisis alone, according to one boss.
Mike Topp, UK-based managing director of Kongsberg Oil and Gas Technologies (KOGT), said firms working in the sector must entice newcomers into the industry by showing commitment to developing their careers.
He believed it was up to companies such as KOGT to make the energy sector more appealing to potential recruits by making sure ongoing professional development was high up the agenda. Mr Topp said: “The universities are doing a fantastic job, but I don’t think that we can expect graduates with the full complement of skills we need: they are never quite going to be the finished article.
“As a knowledge-based company, KOGT can only sell the skills that it has, so it’s important to us that we continue to invest in all our staff – not just newcomers – to keep their skills up to date to motivate them through continued career progression and development.
“A characteristic of the oil and gas industry as a whole is that people do move around to enhance their career prospects. We are fortunate because we have a very low staff turnover at KOGT and I think that is because we have the commitment in place to develop people and invest in them. The skill shortages in the North Sea are very real at present and, unless sufficiently skilled and experienced engineers can be attracted to the industry as activity increases in the region, the situation is going to deteriorate.”