UK-based global workforce solutions company Airswift along with Energy Jobline, a jobsite for the energy and engineering industries have published the first Global Energy Talent Index, an energy recruitment and employment trends report, which reveals a difference in expectations between hiring managers and candidates in 2017.

 The report indicates that energy candidates are more optimistic than hiring managers, with more than half of the workforce predicting an increase in salaries over the next 18 months – compared to 23% of those hiring.

 “It’s absolutely essential that hiring managers and employees are on the same page if the energy industry is to continue attracting and retaining the talent it needs for a successful future,” Janette Marx, Chief Operating Officer at Airswift, said. “But at the moment there’s a bit of a mismatch, and not just about the prospect of a pay rise. For instance, a quarter of hiring managers across the sector think that the corporate brand is the most important factor in attracting jobseekers, when in fact the workforce values salary, location and professional development most highly.”

The report also shows that three-quarters of hiring managers think the oil and gas sector faces a talent shortage. It also shows that graduates are shying away from the oil and gas industry due to perceptions about an ageing workforce and environmental concerns when compared to newer technologically-driven green sectors. Meanwhile, almost half of oil and gas professionals expect the sector to recover in the next 12 months. But nearly two-thirds of hiring managers expect it to take more than a year

 “The oil and gas sector has endured one of its most prolonged and devastating downturns to date,” Hannah Peet, Managing Director at Energy Jobline, said. “In the UK alone, more than 150,000 people lost their jobs. But the industry is incredibly resilient and the sharing of new ideas is helping to get it back on its feet.”

Airswift and Energy Jobline surveyed more than 16,000 energy professionals and hiring managers in 156 countries across five industry sub-sectors: oil and gas, renewables, power, nuclear and petrochemicals.