While it’s been a ‘very tough’ six months in the North Sea jobs market since crude oil prices slumped to around $50-barrel, there is some light at the end of the pipeline, according to a prominent oil and gas recruitment company.
According to Kenny Dooley, Regional Manager Scotland, Petroplan – which has offices in Glasgow and Aberdeen – the annual IRM (inspection, repair and maintenance) window over the summer is likely to stimulate demand for industrial and engineering workers this year.
He said: “We have clients with a lot of tenders in the market at the present, which is driving things forward – and the summer maintenance shutdown will bring more buoyancy into the market.
“We speak to 600-700 people every month who are looking for new jobs and the feedback from the coalface we’re getting is that while there has been a dip in demand on the exploration side, there is more work coming through on project-based drilling and commissioning side.”
Petroplan has been providing specialist recruitment and contractor management services to the oil, gas and energy industry in Scotland for 10 years. Petroplan’s own headcount in Scotland has grown more than three-fold over the last 12 months and the company now has a team of 11 staff operating from Aberdeen and Glasgow.
Glasgow – and Dundee – are growing markets, said Dooley, as relatively high local costs in Aberdeen city/shire are forcing some industrial and engineering supply-chain work – and jobs – southwards, where factory and workshop costs are also frequently lower than in the north east.
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