GETI 2023: Inflation hampering petrochemical hiring efforts

Petrochemical skills and salaries are also the worst affected, with 44 percent saying this disruption has reduced or delayed recruitment and retention of talent

The seventh annual Global Energy Talent Index (GETI), the world’s most established and comprehensive energy workforce trends report has found that the petrochemicals sector has been hit hardest by soaring supply chain costs and suffered the worst resulting skills shortages of any energy sector.

The report by Airswift, the global workforce solutions provider to the STEM industries, finds that amidst a global inflation crisis, 44 percent of petrochemicals workers say their companies have faced disruption from rising supply chain costs – the highest proportion among any energy sector.

Petrochemical skills and salaries are also the worst affected, with 44 percent saying this disruption has reduced or delayed recruitment and retention of talent while 41 percent report that it has also impacted salaries and benefits, the worst of any energy sector. With remuneration and benefits cited by workers as the main factor affecting their job satisfaction this could also hamper recruitment and retention.

Amidst recent gas shortages and with petrochemicals heavily reliant on oil and gas for its feedstocks, the sector has also been the second hardest hit by energy security challenges. Petrochemicals respondents are also the most likely to say that economic disruption has affected investment in technology and digitalisation, indicating that inflation is also slowing the sector’s digital modernisation.

However, rising skills shortages and rebounding demand for petrochemical products have seen salaries soaring with half of petrochemicals workers receiving a pay rise last year, the largest proportion in the industry. Over a fifth say salaries have risen over five per cent. With workers reporting that job satisfaction is closely tied to remuneration, high current salaries mean job satisfaction is currently 67 percent.

Janette Marx, CEO, Airswift said, “Inflation has driven up supply chain costs and diverted resources from recruitment and retention. The fact that economic disruption has set back digital transformation could also indirectly affect recruitment with technologies such as collaborative engineering software essential to the flexible working valued by modern employees. The sector needs to embrace innovations such as open and connected data to deliver the transparency and flexibility valued by a younger generation of workers.”

Ujjal Mukherjee, Chief Technology Officer, Lummus Technology said, “We see increasingly multi-faceted roles combining chemical engineering with artificial intelligence and new innovations such as carbon capture and storage that could appeal to a younger generation. Petrochemical firms should highlight the sector’s pivotal role in decarbonising hard-to-abate sectors such as aviation to attract a new workforce that supports green innovation.”

Airswift interviewed sector experts and surveyed 10,000 energy professionals and hiring managers of 149 nationalities across five sub-sectors - oil and gas, renewables, power, nuclear, and petrochemicals.