A senior human resources official from major international oil company BP, has warned that the oil and gas industry is headed for a serious staff shortage if steps are not taken to attract younger workers into the industry, according to Qatar newspaper The Peninsula.
Speaking at the HR Strategies in Oil, Gas and Petrochemicals conference in Doha, Qatar, Dia Mohammed, regional vice president of human resources at BP for the Middle East, South Africa and North Africa warned that with half of the personnel currently working in the industry approaching retirement age, more young talent needed to be recruited to make up for the imminent shortfall.
“An ageing workforce coupled with limited supply of skilled work force and increasing work load every year are the major human resource issues facing the industry,” The Peninsula reported Mohammed as saying.
“The industry will face questions such as how to find new talents, prolong the retirement age and utilise the service of the retired people,” he added.
Mohammed was also reported as saying that cutting back on recruitment, especially at a time where a bigger pool of potential employees is available is a bad idea.
“More talented hands will be available during tough times. Companies will end up with poor quality workers if they freeze recruitments in such periods. They would not get talented hands when they really need it. They will also be forced to keep their poor quality workers once they stop recruitments,” Mohammed said.
