SPE Strong: Strengthening Our Core: Strengthening the Feedstock of Incoming Talent for the Oil and Gas Industry
Authors: Noonan Shauna 
Published: December 2019

President's column

I always look forward to the start of a new year and the tradition of setting new goals, professionally and personally. It provides an opportunity for new beginnings and to make any corrections, if needed, to the direction of one’s career and self-development. In my first column of the new year, I want to discuss my focus area of Strengthening the Feedstock of Incoming Talent because I believe that our industry needs a change in direction in order to succeed with this ambitious goal.

There are growing concerns among industry professionals and academia about the declining ambitions toward a career in the oil and gas industry by our younger generation. Data compiled by McKinsey and Company in 2018 (www.mckinsey.com) show that over the past decade, the oil and gas industry has dropped from being the 14th most attractive industry among engineering and IT students down to 35th. The report also concluded, “Given the need for talent, it is critical for the O&G industry to deepen and diversify its pool.”

Before exploring how to attract top talent, we must determine what type of talent our industry needs today and into the future. In SPE’s online training course, “Introduction to the Digital Oilfield,” the renowned instructor Tony Edwards states that the digital revolution of our industry now requires “strong generalists who understand the value chain, the big picture, and also have great communication skills.” He further states, “If there was ever a need for a different workforce—a diverse workforce, the time is now.”

What factors are hampering our efforts to attract this much-needed diverse talent? What course corrections are required to get our industry headed in the right direction? I believe there are three main challenges with attracting the next generation of engineers and geoscientists—negative public perception, unattractive business models, and inadequate opportunities for work-life balance.

The first and most apparent challenge is negative public perception. I am very proud of the progress our industry has made to elevate corporate citizenship, and to reduce carbon emissions. I am also proud to be part of the global solution to end energy poverty. Our industry and SPE have been working very hard on public education, although it has not been easy. We all need to learn how to have effective conversations about what our industry does and how we provide solutions that increase our quality of life. We need to put away the PowerPoint presentations and tell our stories. In my December column, I referenced how research has shown that people are more likely to recall statistics when they are built into a storyline. In an October 2019 McKinsey article, “How women can help fill the oil and gas industry’s talent gap,” they advised, “Build a persuasive narrative. Given the widespread public interest in renewable energies and concern about the role of fossil fuels in climate change, O&G companies have an uphill battle in making a case for their industry. How can they attract talented people to what is increasingly perceived as a ‘dirty’ industry? Companies need to articulate a positive narrative to graduates and entry-level hires on how the sector can promote economic development and help manage the transition to the energy system of the future.”