That makes it all the more vital to have good project managers in place, Mr. Andry says. “The core of
what we do is find the balance between scope, costs
and schedule,” he says. Not being able to fully staff a
project adds time to the schedule—and cost to the
budget. “We have to find that balance, then maintain the best project staff we can to achieve success.”
ENERGY
The global energy boom has increased demand for
experienced engineers and project practitioners
around the world—and that demand is outpacing
supply. The sector faces both an aging workforce
and fewer interested and qualified entry-level job
seekers, as well as rapid technological advances
that are changing skills requirements, according to
a 2014 Manpower report on the energy workforce.
That’s forcing organizations to pay more to lure
skilled talent from competitors. Approximately
two-thirds of oil and gas companies intend to
fill the talent void by buying talent from outside
their organizations, and nearly half of these same
employers intend to use poaching from competitors as their predominant source for new talent,
according to a Mercer survey. The talent crunch
is also forcing organizations to recruit globally for
more projects, and to build stronger training and
mentoring programs.
Because the energy sector laid off much of its
workforce during the oil crash of the 1980s, there
is a huge gap in the talent supply chain, says Patrick Allman-Ward, PhD, CEO of Dana Gas, one of
“The core of what we
do is find the balance
between scope, costs
and schedule. We
have to find that balance, then
maintain the best project staff
we can to achieve success.”
—Ted Andry, Kusile, Pretoria, South Africa
Growing Concern
CEOs around the world are worried that the
talent shortage and lack of available skills
will affect business.
n Extremely concerned n Somewhat concerned
n Not very concerned n Not at all concerned
All CEOs
Africa CEOs
Asia Pacific CEOs
Central and Eastern Europe CEOs
Latin America CEOs
Middle East CEOs
North America CEOs
Western Europe CEOs
Source: Annual Global CEO Survey, PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2014
44%
34%
34%
47%
43%
40%
44%
34%
48%
37%
9%
28%
18%
27%
31%
25%
34%
42% 28% 8%
6%
8%
9%
3%
6%
15%
21%
22%
19%
21%
13%