The survey shows the demographic profile of the industry is still dominated by males (90%) and with 49% over 45 and 89% over 35 it is an experienced group.

Despite the difficult years in the oil and gas sector 29% of respondents had seen an increase in their pay in the last 12 months.  Most are positive about the future with 52% expecting their pay to increase in the next 12 months and this seems to be supported by hiring managers with 49% expecting an increase.

“Challenges in the market over recent years have led a number of professionals to seek the perceived security of full-time roles – sometimes even at the cost of lower salaries than they might otherwise expect,” said Hannah Peet, Managing Director at Energy Jobline. “But now that the market is stabilising, oil and gas companies may wish to put a greater emphasis on pay to ensure they retain their talent.”

Workers in the oil and gas sector remain very keen on an international career with 87% willing to relocate to another region for work.

“More than any other sector, oil and gas workers are easily willing and able to move wherever good opportunities lie,” commented Janette Marx, Chief Operating Officer at Airswift.

Peet points to the importance of regional experience “Individuals with experience in various geographies are invaluable. They will have decades of technical experience in different terrains – and that knowledge is virtually impossible to replace.”

With only 52% saying their employers encourage cross-regional transfers, Peet points out “We have a highly mobile workforce that increasingly wants to find new challenges around the world.  Companies that can’t offer these international opportunities may lose out on top talent,”

The need to attract top talent is highlighted as a key issue, particularly with the digitalisation in the industry.  Workers and hiring managers both put training and development opportunities at the top of the list for the things that are most important if top talent is to be attracted. New tech-based roles or mobilising talent from other sectors require companies to lean more on training to get workers up to speed.

Marx says: “More than half of oil and gas workers are willing to move across sectors – but they will want assurance that training is accessible to help them in areas where they may be less familiar.”

The report points out that if training is essential to attracting new talent, then it is absolutely critical to helping current workers seize the opportunities created by digitalisation.

“Companies have a lot of untapped potential in their current workforce. It’s important that they set up a conducive learning environment to help workers along the automation and digitalisation journey,” said Peet.

This comes in a context where 56% of oil and gas professionals saying they are considering a move to a different sector.  Renewables is by far the most likely with 28% saying they are considering a move into this sector and this applies to experienced professionals with workers between 35 and 54 marginally more likely to move than younger workers.

Download the full report here.