Energy sector professionals appear more confident as regards work prospects. According to a Rigzone study, 78% of them were approached by a recruiter in the past six months.
Canadian oil and gas workers revealed their optimism in the latest survey by Rigzone, an online resource for oil and gas information and recruitment. They are in fact the most confident in the world about their career prospects, with 54% saying it would be easy to find a new position in their field this year. This result is slightly ahead of peers in Australia (by less than 1%), as well as the US (49%), South America (46%), the Middle East (45%) and Europe (42%).
Increase in recruitment activity
This survey of 27,800 energy professionals, including 1,123 Canadians, also reveals other interesting facts. 78% of respondents reported at least one contact from a recruiter in the last six months of 2011. Talent scouting is especially strong for petroleum and design and construction engineers, with only 8% and 14% respectively saying they had not received a recruiter inquiry in the second half of 2011.
Incentives to stay
Many oil and gas professionals are open to exploring their career options. 42% of respondents noted an increase in their peers changing jobs in the past six months. 32% also said they were offered enticements to stay by their employer. The most frequent inducements included salary increases, more interesting assignments (28%) and higher or guaranteed retention bonuses (23%). They were split pretty evenly when asked if anything could stop them from changing jobs in 2012—47% said no, 46% said yes and 7% were undecided.