Sustainability Strategy Commitments

UKOOA Sustainability Strategy 2002 - First Report 2. Social Sustainability 2.2 Enhancing recruitment, skills and training   Commitment No. 25 - The attraction and recruitment of young people The current age profile of the industry is quite high and it is essential to attract talented young people into oil and gas to meet future employment needs.  It is necessary to convey the full range of career opportunities available to young people.  The NTO Group is developing a comprehensive strategy Careers in the Oil and Gas Sector (COGS) to address this.  The strategy calls for the formation of at least four more COGS groups to replicate the successful regional group already established in Aberdeen.  This includes representatives from Grampian Education Business Partnership, the Institute of Petroleum, the Society of Petroleum Engineers and the Grampian Careers Service, as well as individual companies.  One deliverable will be the Education Day of Offshore Europe 2001, where for the first time, the NTO Group will present an integrated picture of the full range of career opportunities within the industry.  The industry website Oilcareers.com gives access to information for new entrants and a careers advice service will be developed in conjunction with the NTO Group.  It is also planned to develop a pan-industry graduate careers strategy between 2001 and 2004. Progress to date : achievements and difficulties encountered At Offshore Europe in September 2001, an education day for schools was organised which was strongly supported by the Aberdeen COGS group.  Further regional COGS (careers in the oil and gas sector) groups have been established in East Anglia and Humberside.  A website has been established:  www.oilcareers.com  to help young people who are considering coming into the industry. A pan-industry strategy for the attraction of graduates is under development and a significant part of this is a road-show, mounted in a trailer, which will visit various university towns around the country.  It will be staffed by recent graduates already in the industry who will be able to share their experiences with potential new recruits.  Funding for this has been approved. Case Studies 1.  Modern Apprenticeships taster courses at Aberdeen These 2-day courses, aimed at 12/13 year-olds, are designed to illustrate the exciting and rewarding opportunities for offshore technicians in the oil and gas industry.  This has been developed, in conjunction  with OPITO (now cogent), as a highly interactive course which has been piloted with about two dozen young people from schools in the Aberdeen area.  On the first day, following an introduction in the companys offices, students go on to a drilling simulator, where they get hands-on experience of running a drilling rig.  The second day starts at RGIT where they see survival training in operation, before going to spend time on production platform simulators.  Plans are in hand for three more students courses this year, plus one for teachers and careers advisers, for schools in and around Aberdeen. 2. Partnership Grants ExxonMobil is the Industrial sponsor for the Royal Society's "Partnership Grants" scheme, under which teachers or practicing scientists/engineers can apply for grants of between £500 and £2500, to support projects that will involve teachers and the scientists/engineers working together, to show the students the benefits that science and engineering bring to society.  Full details are available on the Royal Society web site:  www.roysoc.ac.uk 3.  Higher Education Support Scheme (HESS) The HESS scheme offers grants totalling around £100k each year, to relevant target University Departments, for course development, staff development or equipment.  Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Petroleum Engineering, and Earth Science Departments have received grants under this competitive scheme. 4.  Engineering Teaching Fellowships (ETF) Run by the Royal Academy of Engineering, the scheme helps academia retain the best and brightest young academics, as teachers of undergraduates that will hopefully become industries recruits.  A four-year salary top up is offered to these young lecturers, on a competitive basis, at target University Departments.  In addition, the lecturers get the opportunity to spend time in the industry, preferably doing consultancy work for the company.  A celebration dinner for the scheme is planned for early December, with the Government Chief Scientist and the Minister for Higher Education as speakers. Reference Diagrams click to enlarge Website References Oil Careers.com : www.oilcareers.com The Royal Society : www.royalsoc.ac.uk Next commitment [26. Careers support for the existing workforce & for job changers] Previous commitment [24. Development of a workforce development plan for the industry] Commitment listing

Sustainability Strategy Commitments