This will be no surprise to anyone currently working within it, but the oil and gas sector may be the best hope for the UK contracting marketplace.
At least, that’s what several industry experts believe, based on several different factors. One of the biggest reasons cited for why the sector will be a boon to freelancers and umbrella contractors alike is because the UK oil and gas market has been experiencing highly favourable conditions, leading to a massive uptick in employer confidence; in fact, in a recent confidence index conducted by industry body Oil and Gas UK, the sector has been ranked at a highly favourable score of 60 – and anything above 50 means that the sector as a whole is doing well.
The only drop as far as confidence goes, according to Oil and Gas UK, was in operators; the average confidence score fell to 53, which is still not too shabby but lower than it’s been in the past. The reason for such a decline has been traced to a serious lack of skills in available workers, and this is where contractors and freelancers come in: as there are fewer permanent employees to go around amongst all the oil and gas firms that need workers with specialised qualifications and experience, the number of interim workers these firms are prepared to use will likely rocket upwards, and you know as well as I do that the demand for offshore drilling is not going to abate anytime soon, what with the North Sea such a lucrative spot for both oil and gas right now!
Honestly I think it’s a boon for umbrella companies and other agency firms that are looking to expand and grow, as we all know that the economy here at home, while loads better than other places in the world, is still not exactly in tip top shape. Say what you will about the environmental impact of all this drilling and pumping and what-have-you, we need to put our people back to work and get the economy humming along again.
Besides, there’s plenty of offshore wind turbines and wave energy farms either being planned or constructed right now, and while green energy is still less efficient than fossil fuels, it’s a growing market that needs good, qualified workers as well. Most of these projects are located in the North as well, so if working on an offshore oil platform gives you nightmares you can always work for a green firm instead – you’ll still be stuck out in the middle of the ocean either way!
