GETI 2023: gas price crisis has “transformed” oil and gas into popular sector for energy workers

(WO) – The seventh annual Global Energy Talent Index (GETI), the world’s most established and comprehensive energy workforce trends report, has revealed that the recent gas price crisis has transformed oil and gas into the most popular sector for energy workers looking to change roles and has sent salaries soaring above pre-pandemic levels.

The report by Airswift, the global workforce solutions provider to the STEM industries, finds that, with oil and gas majors posting record profits, 44% of oil and gas workers saw their pay increase last year and two-thirds expect further salary rises next year. 41% expect bumper pay rises of over five per cent next year.

Sector-wide salaries are being inflated by fierce competition for oil and gas talent, with almost one-in-three oil and gas workers having been headhunted over six times in the past year. Big pay packets are also driving high job satisfaction, with remuneration cited as the biggest driver of said satisfaction and 69% of oil and gas workers declaring themselves satisfied in their current positions.

Yet rising salaries and job opportunities are also empowering oil and gas workers to seek jobs based on values as well as salaries, with ESG concerns now among their top three reasons for choosing employers. Renewables is the first choice of outside energy sector for oil and gas workers to join, perhaps due to its pivotal role in the environment.

With just 11% of the oil and gas workforce in the survey composed of women, and female employees also more likely to say their views are ignored at work, improving diversity could also be key to retaining and attracting an ESG-conscious workforce.

Janette Marx, CEO at Airswift, says, “In the wake of the recent sanctions on Russia, soaring fossil fuel profits have made oil and gas the most attractive energy sector and turned this into an employees’ market. In countries such as the U.S., new laws mandating pay transparency have forced companies to openly compete on salaries and benefits. An increasingly high-paid, in-demand oil and gas workforce is now empowered to choose employers based on their environmental and social performance as well as pay. This is an opportunity for employers to compete for talent on other differentiators beyond salaries, from decarbonization to diversity.”

The report also found that the revival of oil and gas projects from France to the UK makes Europe the leading destination for oil and gas workers seeking overseas transfers (27%). The proportion of workers wanting to relocate has fallen from 91% in 2020 to 81%.

Of those companies that have begun transitioning to clean energy, 38% welcome the change this has made to their roles.

Airswift interviewed sector experts and surveyed 10,000 energy professionals and hiring managers of 149 nationalities across five industry sub-sectors: oil and gas, renewables, power, nuclear and petrochemicals.