KPMG: Thought Leaders Discuss Challenge of Energy Industry's Talent Gap

The need for new workers is only going to grow. By 2015, employment from the U.S. shale oil and gas industry is expected to rise by nearly 50 percent to 2.5 million jobs, with a total of about 3 million in the industry by 2020. The industry is responding by promoting STEM programs, accelerating career path progression, succession planning, compensation and retention strategies, hiring experienced talent from competitors, and other steps, according to KPMG.

Due to the tightness in the labor market, poaching talent from competitors is a real issue for companies in the oil and gas industry today. In fact, most attrition is due to poaching, according to KPMG’s James Cook, Sales Execution director. And because companies that are poached from also poach from other companies, the movement from company to company can lead to chaos within the industry, Cook added.

While the comparative lack of stability of the workforce can be undesirable, it is likely to remain due to the pressure put on companies to fill position with skilled workers. The industry workforce has more than doubled since 2004, according to Paul Caplan, former Rigzone president, and that growth prompts recruiters to turn to the industry to fill positions within the industry. 

“The competition for the people who are in the industry right now continues to increase. In recent polls we’ve done, close to 70 percent of the respondents from the industry said that they were contacted by a recruiter at least once in the previous six-month period,” Caplan said.

Improving Employee Retention

So, what can companies do to increase the likelihood of keeping employees on board? Embracing generational differences and working to improve the organization’s communication and workforce connection are ways to improve employee retention, according to survey results, which show that workers need to feel that communication efforts are being made, and that the organization cares about having an engaged workforce. 

Survey results also show that younger recruits find cutting edge technology attractive, Cook said. They grew up in the digital age, and readily embrace new technology. So, an investment in technology is seen as a strong solution to address the talent gap, Cook noted, adding that often, this can take the form of using technology in innovative ways, and simply doing more with less.

The industry is making other efforts to attract and retain workers, Cook said. In addition to working with academia to promote STEM programs, the energy industry is accelerating the progress of workers’ career paths, and it is examining compensation strategies.