Shaping the future workforce for the oil and gas sector
Juliet Andrews A D , Louise Rolland B and Tony Cotton CA EY Sydney, 200 George Street, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia.
B EY Melbourne, 8 Exhibition Street, Melbourne, Vic. 3000, Australia.
C UNSW, Australian Defence Force Academy, Northcott Drive, Campbell, ACT 2606, Australia.
D Corresponding author. Email: juliet.andrews@au.ey.com
The APPEA Journal 60(2) 380-384 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ19114
Accepted: 5 April 2020 Published: 15 May 2020
Abstract
Four broad trends are shaping the workforce of the future: demography, social changes, economic forces and technology. The first two mean that the workforce is much more diverse than before, both in its capabilities and its expectations. The economic forces will affect the nature of business and the organisation of work and how the workforce interacts with work. Technological changes mean that the nature of work is changing, and the workforce will have to adapt to meet the new ways of work and changing needs of industry. Although some have assumed that this will lead to a loss of jobs, more sophisticated analysis shows that many jobs will, in fact, be enhanced or redesigned as a result of the opportunities that technology brings. This paper focuses on our recent research into the changing nature of work and our recent work mapping the effect of technology on the mining industry. This mapping will provide insights into how technology has shaped the skills needed in the industry into the future and how organisations need to respond, including implications for leadership, training and work design. Our aim is to deliver a compelling case for acting now to prepare the oil and gas workforce, and to highlight the talent strategies the sector and its members should prioritise in response.
Keywords: changing nature of work, future of work.
Juliet Andrews has 20 years of experience in organisation and management consulting with a particular focus on the changing nature of work and how organisations can plan and prepare for the effect of digital transformation, globalisation and shifting employee expectations. Juliet works with organisations to design research approaches in order to understand employee and organisational behaviour, so that this insight can be applied to human resource decisions and the design of change solutions. Juliet is a registered psychologist and has a PhD from the University of NSW in Organisation and Management. |
Louise Rolland has a background in business administration, labour market policy and planning and strategic human resource management. In her previous role as Professor of Work and Ageing at Swinburne University, Louise established a Centre for Research where she led an internationally focused research agenda to investigate the effects of demographic change and global labour trends on Australian businesses. During this period, Louise investigated the relationship between well-being at work and productivity and related work-based well-being models. Louise joined EY in 2007 and has advised Australian businesses and government, including the Department of Defence, BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Westpac, on complex people challenges, including the design of responses to the changing labour market and environment in relation to workforce skills and capability. Louise has also been a key contributor to the development of the EY Productivity Pulse and has worked with several EY clients on productivity initiatives. |
Tony Cotton has worked with organisations on projects ranging from workforce planning to workforce analytics, developing competency frameworks and talent identification. Tony is a registered psychologist, currently completing his PhD, with over 30 years of experience delivering a wide range of complex workplace interventions in a broad range of organisations. Tony has worked in and with senior leadership groups in organisations across a range of sizes and functions, which has given him a unique experience and understanding of the current and future workforce issues facing leaders and managers. |
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