HR Trends for Energy sector

Executive Search consultant Nishith Srivastava has shared his article on the subject here.

Some interesting points to note:

• all these recent developments and macro-economic factors affecting energy and utilities sector are going to create an immediate requirement for experienced and talented leaders to tackle these issues. Eventually, executive search and HR consulting firms will get new opportunities from all these developments to consolidate their positions in a sector which till date was quite unexplored.
• The industry requires leaders with deft management skills, international experience and the ability to navigate politically charged situations. This is especially critical as companies expand operations to capture growing reserves in countries such as Russia, and reach new markets, most notably in China.
• Smaller exploration companies springing up in major centers also have become a hiring force. These companies typically are founded by oil-and-gas executives who have left larger players either voluntarily or as part of a layoff due to mergers or reorganizations.
• Attractive candidates typically have 15 to 20 years of experience, with at least five years in management and a few years' working overseas, says Lue Gates-Weiss, an independent oil-and-gas industry recruiter in Houston.
• oil-and-gas companies occasionally hire finance executives from outside the industry from sectors that typically are stronger than in the oil-and-gas industry in other areas, such as investor relations.
• An industry expected to deliver a 50 percent increase in energy supplies by 2030 faces this expanding demand with a shrinking pool of available talent. The industry is on the verge of losing a whole generation of professionals who are reaching retirement age, creating a huge vacuum of talent and no experienced replacements.

Well I know that HR consulting firms in India are now routinely consulting for Oil and Gas majors in the Middle East region, and the HR consulting practices of big 4 firms are also booming there locally.

HR people who can get some major exposure to the Oil, Gas and Energy sector would be in for some exciting times ahead.