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« BackNews: How the Petrochemical Industry is Being Damaged by Lower Numbers of Young Skilled Workers

How The Petrochemical Industry Is Being Damaged By Lower Numbers Of Young Skilled Workers

Whilst the petrochemical and oil industries bring in billions of dollars of revenue, large projects are being compromised by the lack of skilled workers. Speaking at the Panel at the Downstream Construction, Maintenance and Engineering Conference in Pittsburgh, Daniel Groves, Construction Users Roundtable (CURT) Director of Operations and Director of Construction Labor Market Analyser (CLMA) said “It is important to recognise that construction is a significant part of our economy, 4.5-5% of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP), over 6% globally. We have to take it very seriously,”

Reports from as far back as 2015 have highlighted the problem. At the conference in June Groves commented that “Over the last 10 years, we have seen a decline of new entrants age 16-24 years old coming in by about 32%. By 2030, that will be about 60%,” Groves said. “The other end of the spectrum, those turning 55 and older, has increased over the last decade about 63%, and expected to be about 83% by 2030.”

This data indicates that the industry needs to find a way of making itself more attractive to the younger work force. As with any heavy mechanical and technical industries, working in petrochemicals can be rough, dusty and hard work. The decline in the number of young people wanting to develop skills such as welding is indicative of the need to look at modernising the way that the industry operates in terms of equipment, training and role variation.

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