Opinion
- Editorial- Commentary
STCIC:
Employment in energy sector
Implications for training, development
Employment
in the T&T energy
sector has been increasing over the past few years,
with an average annual growth rate of six per cent
since 2001. This compares with an overall average
annual growth in total employment of about 2.6
per cent over the same period. Total employment
in the energy sector has now surpassed the highest
numbers employed in the sector during the 1970s-1980s
boom period, when the total number of energy jobs
peaked at over 17,000 in 1980 and then fell more
or less constantly until reaching a trough of just
over 12,000 in 1997.
In terms of percentage of labour force, however,
the total energy sector employment in 2006 was
still less than in the 1980s, when it reached almost
five per cent of the labour force. Today it is
still under four per cent.
The
majority of new jobs in the energy sector have
been created in the service contractor sub-sector – with
well over 4,000 jobs being created in this sector
in the past decade, representing a doubling of
employment in the energy services sub-sector.
This compares with 3,000 new jobs in the exploration
and production sector; about 1,700 in refining
(much of this through the establishment of Atlantic
LNG) and less than one thousand new jobs in the
petrochemical sector.
Increasing importance of energy services sector
The shift in employment in the energy sector towards
service contractors has been a long-term feature
going back over decades.
In the early 1970s the major employment sub-sector
in the energy sector was refining; accounting for
44 per cent of total energy sector jobs in 1973,
followed by exploration and production (29 per
cent) and service contractors (13 per cent).
Over time, however, service contractors came to
represent an ever increasing percentage of the
total energy sector labour force, as the major
companies in the exploration and production, refining
and petrochemical sectors sought to contract out
more functions to specialised service companies.
By the early 1990s the service contractor sub-sector
accounted for about 30 per cent of jobs in the
energy sector, with exploration and production
accounting for a similar amount and refining down
to under 20 per cent.
In 2006 the service contractor sector accounted
for 33 per cent of energy sector employment, with
exploration and production at 26 per cent and refining
at 17 per cent.
Meeting the increased demand
The
increasing demand for employees in the energy
sector has led to significant resources being channelled
towards training and development of the energy
sector. The establishment of the University of
T&T (UTT) and the expanded programmes of the
University of the West Indies (UWI) have resulted
in significant increases in the number of graduates
equipped with the skills to work in the energy
sector. The programmes of the National Energy Skills
Centre and various other training programmes have
also produced many skilled technicians and craftsmen.
There is, however, considerable unmet demand for
employees, especially at supervisory or managerial
levels. Thought must also be given to the implications
of the changing pattern of employment outlined
above.
Need for apprentice programmesa
The
big increase in employment has come in the energy
services sector. Companies in this sector
tend to be medium-sized companies, often locally
owned and operated. The apprentice and internship
programmes that were very successful in the past
at creating a large cadre of skilled technicians,
craft workers and professionals were offered by
the bigger companies in the exploration and production,
petrochemical and refining sub-sectors. These programmes
played a large role in the extremely good reputation
gained by T&T energy sector workers throughout
the world.
Many of the bigger companies continue to offer
excellent internship programmes for professional
staff, often in conjunction with UWI or UTT.
In the current labour market, however, the majority
of craft and technician jobs are not in the major
companies but in the medium-sized service contractors.
Over the past couple of years, the STCIC Quarterly
Energy Services Sector Survey, the latest of which
was released last week, indicates that most of
these companies are expending significant and increasing
resources on training and development.
Nevertheless, the nature of their business means
that it is difficult for many of these companies
to run the sort of formal apprentice programmes
that were so successful in the past. Service companies
only generate revenue when they have contracts
with the major players and there is significant
competition to win these contracts.
This places a constant pressure on service companies
to keep costs firmly under control and means that
investments in training and development usually
need to have fairly quick returns.
The National Energy Skills Centre and the UTT
have been very successful at working with industry
over the recent past. There are strong and growing
links between many of the major energy sector companies
and training and research institutions.
The formal links between the training institutions
and the energy service companies, however, have
not been developed to the same extent. This is
an issue which the STCIC has identified as an area
where it can make a significant intervention and
efforts in that area are a major focus for the
chamber at present.
Local content policies also have an important
role to play: if local companies are assured of
longer term access to good contracts they will
be better able to invest in the needed training
and development programmes.
Given this situation there is also a clear need
to develop new apprentice programmes that respond
to the realities of the energy services sector.
There is a need for a pro-active industry/government
partnership to be developed to ensure that new
apprentice programmes are developed and implemented
in the energy services sector.
The STCIC has made some firm proposals to the
Government in this regard, which have been well
received. We will continue to work with the Government
and the relevant training agencies to make this
programme a reality.
For further details on the STCIC education and
training committee contact ron@southchamber.org
STCIC is Trinidad's
South Chamber of Commerce and Industry-STCIC
(deven@southchamber.org).
Petroleumworld not necessarily share these
views.Petroleumworld
not necessarily share these views.
Editor's
Note: This article was first publish in Trinidad
Guardian,Thursday
16th August, 2007 .
Petroleumworld reprint this article in the interest
of our readers.
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Petroleumworld
08/18/07
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