Oil professionals pick Shell as best employer

SHELL, an IChemE Gold Corporate Partner, has been named as the best employer in the oil and gas industry in a survey of more than 8,400 oil and gas professionals in more than 100 countries.

The inaugural Ideal Employer Survey is the first of its kind since the beginning of the global downturn, and was carried out by Rigzone, an online oil and gas industry resource including news, jobs and data analysis. Rigzone carried out the survey from July–September 2016 and asked 19 questions, including on a company’s values, performance and pay rates and how they would rank employers.

Globally, alongside Shell, Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP and Halliburton make up the top five, and although there were some regional differences, Shell made the top five in every part of the world. In the UK, BP came out on top, with Shell, Chevron, Maersk and ExxonMobil completing the top five. In Africa, Chevron was the top pick, with ExxonMobil in second place and Shell in third. Shell topped the rankings again in the Middle East, with Saudi Aramco in second, and in APAC, where Chevron came second. Malaysian national oil company Petronas came eighth. More than 3,000 companies in total were named by respondents.

“That the largest companies in the sector complete the top 30, the majority having undergone significant change due to the effects of the downturn in the past 18 months, will give them confidence that the workforce remain committed to the sector,” said James Bennett, Rigzone managing director.

For all regions except North America and Europe, oil and gas professionals said that a commitment to safety is their top priority in an employer. In North America, the joint top priorities are salary and a company’s ability to manage business with integrity. In Europe, professionals said that their main priority is interesting and challenging work.

“Shell people are our strongest ambassadors and we are proud of the quality of the people that we've got. I think it's pretty clear and central to the group's strategy that having that access to quality people really is part of how we compete to win,” said Jonathan Kohn, Shell HR VP for the UK, Ireland, Nordics and South Africa, adding: “We have made a strong commitment to try to maintain our graduate recruitment through the whole cycle. We typically recruit in the range of 800 to 1,100 graduates per year around the world. We are at the bottom end of that range at the moment… But that is still a very substantial commitment.”