Looking to boost your oil and gas career but need a telltale sign the tide is turning for Scotland’s best known industry?
Wave hello to two new reports that offer early Christmas presents.
First up is new research that shows almost 90 per cent of employers expect next year’s staffing levels to remain stable or even see a significant increase.
In fact, the survey of employers and workers shows that in total almost 60 per cent of oil and gas companies expect to recruit significantly over the next year.
With the price of oil having stabilised since July, this is the first time since 2014 that industry experts have predicted a net increase in available jobs.
In total more than 3000 employers and almost 7000 workers were surveyed as part of the Oil and Gas Outlook 2017 report.
Almost a quarter (23 per cent) of employers said they expected to increase their workforce by five per cent and almost a fifth (19 per cent) expect to boost their staff numbers by between five and 10 per cent.
More than a sixth (17 per cent) envisage recruitment to rise by more than 10 per cent.
Almost a third of employers expect staffing levels to remain the same with just 11 per cent of employers expecting to cut jobs.
Such renewed confidence in the sector has no doubt been buoyed this month by the latest State of the Economy report.
This reveals oil and gas production in Scotland increased by 2.9% in 2016-17.
In fact, the latest quarterly sales revenues are approaching pre-2014 levels.
The report by Scottish Government Chief Economist Gary Gillespie said that the future conditions for growth in the oil and gas sector – and its supply chain – are more favourable now than they have been in recent times.
It added that efficiency improvements in the sector also mean production costs have halved, going from $30 dollars a barrel to $15, with these expected to fall further.
It also pointed out the cost savings made in Scotland here have outpaced the global average and had already contributed to upward revenue travel in 2016-17.
If you’d like to see your own career pointing in the same direction, why not take a look at the latest vacancies in Oil & Gas with s1jobs?