The global boom in energy production driven by and horizontal drilling is leading to a shortage of skilled workers. A by the human resources firm says two-thirds of oil and gas companies are now poaching employees from their competitors.
"The industry seems inclined when an individual is trained and developed by a competitor to, especially in the first five years of employment, go after that key talent, as opposed to training and developing their own," says Philip Tenenbaum, a senior partner at Mercer.
He says in some cases, the practice has become quite overt.
"An employer simply sends an email to key employees at a competitor with a job offer at a 50 percent salary increase, without a need for an interview," Tenenbaum says. "Not necessarily in the U.S. at this point, but I can see it coming [here]."
Jobs in the U.S. energy sector will nearly double to 3 million by the end of the decade, according to this week from the human resources company .
That report says the labor shortage is being driven by three major factors: an aging workforce; rapid advances in technology that are changing skill requirements; and a lack of education in science, technology, engineering and math.
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