Oil, Gas Automation Workers Must Be Trained Faster

The increased pace of technology invention means people in the oil and gas automation sector need to be trained faster, said Vimal Kapur, president of Honeywell Process Solutions.

Speaking at the EMEA HUG conference in the Hague, Kapur stated that the speed at which technology is arriving is much faster than 10 or 15 years ago and warned that this trend poses a challenge of skill migration.

Commenting on the wider automation industry, Kapur revealed an impending experience ratio shift that he labeled “startling”.

“Today, 29 percent of experienced people are handling 20 percent of less experienced people,” said Kapur.

“In a couple of years from now, 16 percent of experienced people are going to manage 42 percent less experienced people…quite a startling change in the ratios,” he added.

Kapur also spoke of the differences between the current and future generations of workers in the wider automation community.

“The new [millennial] generation behaves differently…there’s certainly an expectation on state of the art…It’s expected that they will use modern tools,” said Kapur.

“They interface differently, less paper, much more virtual, and they’re also loyalty-light. They jump jobs much more quickly,” he added.