The latest issue of Toolbox Talk sees in our 25th Anniversary; a quarter of a century during which time there has been much change in both our industry generally and WWG’s role within it.
There can surely not be many industries that are so effected by global social economic events quite as the oil and gas business. This dynamic is part of what makes our business exciting, since the oil and gas activity world is never the same for very long and is totally effected by regional economic expansion or contraction, wars, immigration policies, energy policies and several other things besides.
What some people find exciting others find a challenge, it’s a little like the half full half empty glass argument. On the whole people who work in our industry tend to be outgoing and receptive to change, probably out of necessity as much as anything else
Over a period of time this resilience if you like, becomes a honed-in skill. The ability to adapt to accept one door closing while another one opens and not to dwell too long on what hasn’t gone entirely to plan while at the same time taking on board lessons learnt in order to be better prepared the next time.
Our industry is a cyclical activity roller coaster ride where expansion and contraction are synonymous with and inextricably connected to the fortune of most companies and individuals that work within it.
We have undoubtedly seen in recent years one of the longest periods of expansion if not stability in our industry in the last half century. Many youngsters, some of whom work for WWG, have never seen anything other than expansion. There is an argument that says that this group of people are less well equipped for any change in the market although hopefully there are enough older heads around them to encourage grounded behaviours.
Its not just activity ebb and flow that effects our industry. Technology moves on a pace along with QHSE requirements, rules and regulations. Most of the time the younger element of our contractor community is much more adept at embracing QHSE implementations, probably because they have lived with this culture all of the working lives while the older contingent can sometimes see such implementations as an inconvenience.
The pluses and minus’s across the demographic are important to maintain balance in many areas in our industry. Without new young people the oil and gas business will struggle but equally without the benefit of older heads to advise and offer the benefit of experience, inconsistency of standards can and will occur.
As is often the case when an world economic downturn happens, as indeed we have just been through, immigration and taxation barriers often intensify on the basis of countries wanting to protect their own labour market workforce. The oil and gas industry has always been a global business with skilled workers having to be extremely transient moving from country to country as and when required by the demands of the business. Personnel movement transience is now more of a challenge that it has even been with ever increasing demands on entry visa requirements both of a permanent and temporary nature. This often means that an increased level of visibility and planning are required for some overseas location in order to make sure that WWG are ready and able to assist during peak periods of activity. Inevitably this scenario can lead to quite a few “hurry up and wait” situations and equally contractors having to have more that one active concurrent prospective work thread. The plates are all often spinning but some will unavoidably crash to the floor! This is an accepted change in the way that we have to do international business today. Localisation for contractual personnel has become more significant and while this doesn’t always work there are some advantages, not least of which is the environmental impact of reducing extensive long haul travel.
WWG would like to thank our community of contractors and clients alike without whom our journey would not have been possible. Amongst our staff we also have a balance of young innovators and older experienced heads which continues to keep our focus and also to manage the inevitable changes that continue to keep our business dynamic.