Mexico employment in oil and gas sector

Technicians and Engineers are in high demand in offshore oil energy sector

Mexico: oil sector deficit technician talents. Pemex is not ready to receive candidates to attract the oil energy reform: experts; there is a deficit of 25% of analysts in geosciences and 40% in petroleum engineering personnel.

The recently approved energy reform could increase employment opportunities in offshore oil drilling sector; However, Mexico lacks the resources to meet the growing demand for labor, analysts agreed.

Only in the area of offshore oil exploration and production more than 1,000 specialists engaged in this activity annually, according to estimates by this subsidiary of Pemex are required. With this deficit, the oil would struggle to cover an estimated three million barrels between 2017 and 2018 production.

"The Mexican Petroleum Institute (IMP) neglected many years research and talent training, and today Pemex faces the slogan to attract talent and develop it quickly. For example, there is a serious shortage of petroleum engineers trained in aspects technical, "said the director of academic programs of the ITESM, Santa Fe, Manuel Valencia.

The short-term vision of Pemex resulted in a lack of interest in developing talent for research on hydrocarbons. For example, the Institutional Graduate Program which was established in 2002 has been a decrease in the number of students enrolled in doctorate, which have risen from 61 in 2006 to 28 in 2011, according to the report 'Three Dilemmas. A diagnosis to Mexico's oil energy future. "

In the same period, the number of graduates fell from 15 to just six. In addition, the IMP reports that the total financial resources for the training of talents spent 66 million pesos (mp) in 2006-45 pesos in 2011, cited the document prepared by the Center for Development Research (CIDAC) .

Manuel Valencia said that with the approval of the oil energy sector reform, Pemex already working on the development of talent in management controls, "that's the least troubling part," said the academic. He said that the biggest problem is to have technicians in areas such as mining, as the agencies that provide training, as the National College of Technical Professional Education (CONALEP) not graduate to sufficient number of graduates to meet the demand.

"Fashion is not technical study on extraction, but there is saturation and aviation electronics technicians, the latter category is where you take the technician talent to train and incorporate it into hydrocarbons. With certification, these people can be ready in three to five months, "he added.

Annually, the National Polytechnic Institute and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) are about 200 petroleum engineers.

Where are oil jobs?

The regional director of Hays Mexico, Gerardo Kanahuati, said Mexico currently does not have enough technician talent to fill positions that are required in highly specialized offshore oil category.

He explained that a lot of technicians working in this industry and these oil jobs are imported from countries such as Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia or the United Arab Emirates. However, this results in costs to triple what it would mean hiring a Mexican employee, explained the manager. A local employee receives an average annual salary of $ 50,000 while trading on imported reaches $ 132.000. That's why Mexican offshore oil drilling rigs willing to give jobs to local employees.

Gerardo Kanahuati ensures that the high cost of imported technicians will make companies and academic institutions to accelerate the training of experts in areas where there is a high demand for workers, such as extraction and refining processes as well as alternative forms of generation energy, such as wind.

In the short term it will require managers and financial managers to conduct negotiations between Pemex supply companies and other oil plus attendees and analysts said the representative of the Tec de Monterrey.

"For the part of middle managers who need to master a second, working in international negotiation skills and development of new offshore oil projects. Not only Pemex seeks these technicians, but also companies like Shell Petroleum Brithis. On the technical side, it require geoscience staff, "said Valencia.

Estimates of Pemex Exploration and Production, a subsidiary of Pemex, a deficit of 25% analysts in the area of geosciences and 40% in personnel involved in petroleum engineering. The Mexican Petroleum Institute develops, on average, 230 specialists in earth sciences and 48 tankers at all levels.

Petroleum engineers earn some of the highest wages in the United States: College graduates earn an average of $ 163.000 per year in middle-level jobs. But that does not mean that some of these workers feel better about the detrimental effects that his work can have on the world.

"(It is considered that) the most oil jobs make the world a worse place because of social factors, but petroleum engineering seems to materialize to an environmental factor," said PayScale Bardaro. "People in this race are trying to meet the high demand worldwide for petroleum products, but also may think they are having a negative impact on the environment"