Engineering & Labor Outlook for Alberta Oil & Gas Industry

The Conference Board of Canada predicts that there will be a major labour shortage for skilled labour fuelled by growth and a retiring baby boomer workforce during the next five years. The recession has delayed the inevitable labour crunch but it is predicted that if organizations fail to adequately plan for tightening labour markets, they will lose out on future growth prospects.

During the past 6 years, there has been a large shift towards sourcing services internationally. Outsourcing engineering services alone has grown worldwide from $40 billion USD in 2007 to a projected $80 billion USD in 2010. This trend is expected to continue at double digit rates (Hamilton and Dehoff, 2007).

The International Energy Association predicts the demand for oil to grow 36% over the next 25 years. With this growth alone, it is projected that this growth cannot be sustained and this effect will be augmented as the baby boom population begins to retire. In fact Backbone Magazine states that over half the baby boomers currently working will retire in the next 5 years making outsourcing strategies a for companies a vital component to maintain sustainable operations.

Read the report: http://www.petrohrsc.ca/human-resources-issues.aspx