Page 42: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (April 2015)

OFFSHORE: RECRUITING “You’ve got to be able to look toward the future, and sometimes make some educated guesses as to what’s around the corner. This period right now is tough; it’s tough for CEOs to make those calls. But as sure as apples are apples, this marketplace will come back; companies will need those people, and they’ll need that core workforce in place.”

While the energy market is down and “The winners will see it as an opportu- “You’re seeing a lot of new drillships As the price of oil and gas is cycli- larger companies are enacting lay-off nity to pick up people who they couldn’t coming into operation, still with a lot cal, so too is the supply and demand in plans, Charman doesn’t believe that the ? nd easily during the up market. Com- more to come … and those companies the workforce. During tough times it is recruitment market will follow the same panies that have a long-term optimistic aren’t letting go of their drilling crews dif? cult to recruit new talent, a problem course as the price of the commodity it- view of the market will use this as an op- because they know that they’re going exacerbated by the aging workforce. self. portunity to go out and ? nd those hard- to need those guys for vessels coming Charman reasons that when the market “Marine and offshore is an aging to-? nd individuals’ who previously were into service. They have got to hang onto rebounds there will be another big pen- workforce, particularly in the U.S., being bear-hugged by their employers.” those good people.” dulum swing, going straight back into (where you have a signi? cant portion of) While Charman is an optimist, he also skill shortages and massive wage in? a- a workforce that is close to retirement is a realist, realizing that the swift and The Year of Uncertainty tion.

and ready to leave in the next few years,” dramatic oil downturn will cause organi- “Uncertainty is caused by all of the While it is impossible to compare pre- said Charman. “Some of those workers zations to genuinely cancel projects and bad news out in the press regarding the vious energy peaks and valleys, Char- will use the current market conditions to let people go. uncertainty of oil and gas, the uncer- man said that this most recent slowdown say ‘I’ve had enough of this’ and hang up “But I think there are a lot of organiza- tainty of the projects. This makes a lot is fundamentally different from the last their boots. I think you’ll see a lot of peo- tions out there that, even though they are of nervous candidates, and nervous can- one in 2008, when oil was driven down ple leave earlier than originally planned, letting people go on one hand, they are didates tend to not change jobs in an by macro economic forces: the global and this will put added pressure on the hiring on the other. This is the irony of uncertain market,” said Charman. “It’s ? nancial crisis and resulting multi-year availability of talent.” this marketplace. I pay careful attention the old mentality of seeking a safe port economic malaise. Today the drivers

For those with short memories, up un- to vacancy numbers, as that is a really in a storm … there’s a bit of a storm are different. “We are almost in sort of a til the recent oil price swoon there was good metric of what’s happening in the right now, and there are a lot of candi- false bubble right now with the oil price a huge skill shortage in the marketplace, marketplace. We have seen no drop-off dates who are hunkered down in the bun- as to why it is arti? cially low. At ? rst and operators were regularly poaching at all in vacancy numbers, and that is ker waiting for the storm to pass. They companies go into a state of shock; they talent from other operators. quite telling.” won’t change jobs during this period. start to lay people off; they stop laying

But Charman predicts in the new Prior to the recent slowdown, drilling This means the companies that are still people off and take stock of the market; world of oil and gas that is taking shape, companies were ? nding it nearly impos- growing will ? nd it hard still to get the projects start again; and they start hiring there will be clear winners and losers. sible to ? nd drill crews, for example. people that they need.” again. Right now I think we are still in that phase where the industry is still in a bit of shock. I think in second half of this year we’ll see a normalization of the marketplace where people will start to hire again after companies have adjusted to the new market to make money and be successful.”

With decades of recruiting experi- ence under his belt, Charman discusses the market with ? uidity and ease, but he knows well the boardrooms are buzzing and dif? cult decisions are being made every day. “You have to have a medium- to long- term view in regards to workforce plan- ning,” said Charman. “You’ve got to be able to look toward the future, and sometimes make some educated guesses as to what’s around the corner. This pe- riod now is tough; it’s tough for CEOs to make those calls. But as sure as apples are apples, this marketplace will come back; companies will need those people, and they’ll need that core workforce in place.”

Contract Professionals

Charman said that the use of contract professionals is used widely in many industries and world regions, a practice 42 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • APRIL 2015

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