Statoil plans to recruit skilled workers to all fields

Statoil plans to recruit more than 50 skilled workers annually in the years ahead to ensure that the company has the right competence and capacity on the Norwegian continental shelf, the Norwegian company said in a press release.

“We believe it will be possible to maintain profitable and sustainable production at the current level on the Norwegian continental shelf up to 2030 and beyond. However, this means that we must continue to attract talented personnel with good qualifications,” says Aksel Stenerud, vice president human resources Development and Production Norway.

As a result of the downturn in the oil and gas sector, the number of school places for vocational education and training has been significantly reduced, particularly within the field of processing. Applications for apprenticeships have also dropped in the same period.

“However, Statoil sees great opportunities for the Norwegian continental shelf. We have projects that are in the process of starting up and several are under completion. We also have a number of projects in the planning phase for possible development”, Stenerud says.

“We need to recruit skilled workers to all disciplines in the coming years. In the first few years, the majority of recruitments will be within processing”, Stenerud emphasises.
Although the need to recruit skilled workers within processing, electro-mechanics and logistics will no doubt vary from year to year, we have a long-term recruitment strategy.

The recruitment strategy for offshore personnel will also address the needs and solutions we have within our onshore facilities.  This provides opportunities for good professional development among all of our skilled workers.

“The strategy will help to ensure the proper capacity, predictability and renewal. It is also a response to the workforce attrition we face within these disciplines. We hope this will contribute to a positive trend in the number of applications for education in these subjects”, says Dag Unnar Mongstad, who is a representative of the Norwegian trade union Industri Energi.

The number will vary somewhat between disciplines and from year to year, but the aim is to maintain an even level of recruitment for many years to come.