GE Oil & Gas Adjusts Recruitment Strategy
The collapse in the price of oil late last year has prompted the firing of staff left, right and center in the oilfield engineering and services industry.
Major oilfield services companies, such as Baker Hughes Inc. and Halliburton Co., have taken the hard decision to shed employees in the thousands while many other services companies have been giving a less-than-rosy picture of how they see their businesses coping with oilfield project cancellations and delays in the short-to-medium term.
Recently, at GE Oil & Gas' annual meeting in Florence, Rigzone caught up with Vice President of Human Resources Harry Elsinga, to see how the company is adjusting its recruitment strategy amid the gloom and doom in the sector.
Two years ago, GE Oil & Gas had plans to recruit some 2,000 additional staff between 2013 and 2016 for its Subsea Systems division alone. The firm's CEO at the time, Daniel Heintzelman, highlighted the fact that some 50 percent of the world's 10 million oil and gas workers would be eligible to retire in 2015, meaning that the industry was facing a human resources challenge.
But a slowdown in activity in the oil and gas sector last year means the business is now more circumspect when it comes to recruitment.
"We've carefully built up a workforce of very skilled folks around the world. And, of course, we will adjust the cost structure where we need to, based on the market demands and products being sold and services being required. At the same time, we've been on a process for simplification for about a year-and-a-half to 2 years in GE at large and also within GE Oil & Gas," Elsinga told Rigzone, emphasizing that GE has been focused on taking costs out of its business for a while rather than simply acting in a reactive fashion to the recent fall in oil prices.
"We were asking: 'Are we organized in the smartest way or in the most customer-oriented way? With this organization that we have today, are we delivering the best results possible in the marketplace for our customers?'," he added.
123
View Full Article
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.
Rigzone
- ITEM Club: More Jobs Losses Expected in NE Scotland due to Oil Slump
- Shell Q&A: What Makes an Ideal Employer in Oil, Gas?
- Shell Takes First Place in Rigzone's Inaugural Ideal Employer Survey
- UK Government 'Must Recommit' to Oil, Gas Sector in Autumn Statement
- UK Government Gives Go-Ahead for Fracking in NW England
- Falcon Oil Declares Commercial Flow Test Results for Shenandoah Well
- Japan Failing to Meet Corporate Demand for Clean Power: Amazon
- Macquarie Strategists Expect Brent Oil Price to Grind Higher
- UK Oil Regulator Publishes New Emissions Reduction Plan
- PetroChina Posts Higher Annual Profit on Higher Production
- Pennsylvania County Joins List of Local Govts Suing Big Oil over Climate
- McDermott Settles Reficar Dispute
- US, SKorea Launch Task Force to Stop Illicit Refined Oil Flows into NKorea
- Russian Navy Enters Warship-Crowded Red Sea Amid Houthi Attacks
- USA Commercial Crude Oil Inventories Increase
- New China Climate Chief Says Fossil Fuels Must Keep a Role
- Equinor Makes Discovery in North Sea
- Standard Chartered Reiterates $94 Brent Call
- India Halts Russia Oil Supplies From Sanctioned Tanker Giant
- DOI Announces Proposal for Second GOM Offshore Wind Auction
- Centcom, Dryad Outline Recent Moves Around Red Sea Region
- PetroChina Set to Receive Venezuelan Oil
- Czech Conglomerate to Buy Major Stake in Gasnet for $917MM
- US DOE Offers $44MM in Funding to Boost Clean Power Distribution
- Oil Settles Lower as Stronger Dollar Offsets Tighter Market
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Major Oilfield Discovery
- VIDEO: Missile Attack Kills Crew Transiting Gulf of Aden
- Norway Regulator Blasts Proposal to Halt New Oil and Gas Permits
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Another Major Oilfield Discovery
- New China Climate Chief Says Fossil Fuels Must Keep a Role
- What Is the Biggest Risk to Offshore Oil and Gas Personnel in 2024?
- Vessel Sinks in Red Sea After Missile Strike
- Exxon Rights in Stabroek Do Not Apply to Hess Merger with Chevron: Hess
- Analysts Reveal Latest Oil Price Outlook Following OPEC+ Cut Extension
- Equinor Makes Discovery in North Sea