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MMS ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES PROGRAM: ONGOING STUDIES |
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MMS OCS Region: |
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Planning Area: |
Gulfwide |
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Title: |
Characteristics and Possible Impacts of the Aging Workforce
Transition on the Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Industry in the |
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Total Cost: $196,247 |
Period of Performance: FY 2009 - 2011 |
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Conducting Organization: |
Coastal Marine Institute,
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MMS Contact: |
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Description: Background: The oil and gas industry is a primary
contributor to state and local economies in the Gulf of Mexico Region. The U.S. Energy Information Administration
projects that the worldwide demand for energy produced by oil and natural gas
will double over the next 20 years. To
support energy demands, significant physical infrastructural investments have
been made. However, comparable efforts
to shore up the human infrastructure of the oil and gas industry have not
been made. As a result, population and
industry trends suggest a looming workforce crisis that will be triggered by
an inevitable wave of retirement among our nation’s oldest workers. Almost half of the A second contributor to the
aging workforce crisis is the low levels of employment replacement,
particularly among the skilled and semi-skilled trades that are vital to oil
and gas production and exploration companies.
Since the collapse of oil prices in the 1980’s, across sectors and
occupational groups, fewer people are being trained for and entering careers
in the oil and gas industry. Although
some companies have recently taken steps to offset spiraling replacement
rates by working to retain and recruit new hires, the lengthy on-the-job
training models common in the industry forecast a ten-year time lag before
the newest hires cultivate the professional expertise and experience needed
to operate independently in their fields.
Until then, labor shortages associated with this “missing generation”
will only intensify as the Baby Boom generation approaches retirement, taking
with them valuable institutional knowledge and skill. The workforce transitions associated with population aging and labor shortages indicate a workforce crisis that will challenge OCS oil and gas production and exploration companies. As a result, these transitions also threaten the social and economic foundations of the employees, families, and communities that so heavily depend on the industry. |
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Objectives: (1) To
determine the scope and impact of the workforce trends on current and
anticipated business planning and productivity specific to the GOMR; (2) To
assess common, as well as unique, business strategies for managing the aging
and labor shortage trends; (3) To
examine relationships among company characteristics (e.g., average age, size,
and functional composition) and management practices; (4) To
assess differences in impacts and practices across sectors and occupational
groups; and (5) To
discuss potential impacts of these workforce transitions on employees,
families, and communities in the GOMR. |
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Methods: The project will employ a mixed-method research design to examine employment practices and the impacts of the aging workforce transition in two contrasting OCS industry sectors, oil and gas exploration and production companies in the GOMR. Data will be gathered in two phases to inform three general workforce themes: (1) company characteristics (e.g., workforce age, occupational groups, functions, and sectors); (2) current labor trends (e.g., skill shortages, personnel placements, retirements), and (3) anticipated changes to business plans, production, and/or practices related to personnel management. Data literature and discussions with industry experts and personnel will be recorded, coded, and synthesized to indentify modal themes, and then analyzed to detect consistencies and differences across companies, communities, sectors, and occupations. |
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Products: The
deliverables for this project are: (1)
Quarterly and annual
reports (2)
Database of all
project data (3)
Peer-reviewed
journal article about aging workforce (4)
Professional
conference presentation - preliminary results (5) Cooperative
agreement proposal for continued research (6) Presentation
to MMS at Information Transfer Meeting (7) Graduate
student master's thesis proposal (8) Project
summary to be disseminated to business leaders and industry workshop (9) Final Report |
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Importance to MMS: The project will address the MMS goal to provide a scientific analysis of the social and economic impacts of the aging workforce crisis on GOMR companies and communities, and to help resource managers make informed decisions about how to prepare for these transitions as they become more salient in years to come. |
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Current Status: Study awarded September, 2009 |
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Final Report Due: |
August 2011 |
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Publications: |
N/A |
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Affiliated WWW Sites: |
N/A |
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Revised date: |
September 2009 |
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ESPIS |
ESPIS
- All completed ESP Studies: |
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