Nearly half of all energy workers in the Middle East are debating leaving the industry within the next five years, new research revealed.
The global oil and gas industry has been upended over the past couple of years due to demand and supply issues caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, issues may continue to plague the sector with workers looking to leave.
A survey of 17,000 energy professionals worldwide from energy recruitment firms oilandgasjobsearch.com and Brunel found that 47 percent of respondents in the Middle East are considering moving out of the industry, with a further 22 percent saying that are unsure. This figure was the highest in the world, compared to the global average of 43 percent.
Low salary ranked as the number one reason why workers in the region said they want to leave at 31 percent, followed by lack of good benefits at 25 percent, personal lifestyle changes at 22 percent, and lack of personal development opportunities at 19 percent.
Among recruiters, the key reason highlighted for skills shortages in the region was inadequate succession planning for knowledge transfer and skills retention, with 42 percent listing this as the number one reason. This was followed by education and training, at 36 percent, loss of expertise due to an ageing workforce, at 32 percent, and strict immigration laws preventing access to talent globally, at 24 percent.
“The skills shortage has been a challenge that we’ve consistently outlined in our outlook report over the past decade. Retaining existing skillsets has never been so important given the impact the pandemic has had on the energy workforce. Current employee sentiment points strongly to a better work-life balance and a safer working environment, thus shifting the goal posts for employers to make necessary changes,” Gareth Force, business development manager at oilandgasjobsearch.com said in a statement.
The Middle East region reported lower instances of personal discrimination than elsewhere, with 27 percent stating they had been the target of discrimination, compared to the 31 percent global average.
For companies looking to overcome the skills gap in the region, businesses said that they were training and developing their existing workforce (50 percent), offering better compensation and benefits (26 percent(, and increasing diversity (22 percent).
The Middle East region is home to some of the largest energy companies in the world, while governments have been making bit bets on the renewable future for the industry. Recent research has demonstrated that a global transition is underway across the business community, with most companies in the world’s richest countries already committed to a net zero target.