Calgary 鈥� While the name of the Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors seems to imply just drilling rigs, it does, in fact, include the service rig side of the business. And they鈥檝e heard some anecdotes of labour shortages on the service rigs.
鈥淪ervice rig activity hasn鈥檛 necessarily been a ray of sunshine, but you can kind of see the sun through the clouds,鈥� said John Bayko, vice president, communications, of the CAODC, on Nov. 7.
鈥淚 know the challenge is, when you鈥檙e looking to bring guys back, you can鈥檛 guarantee them any kind of long-term work. I know that all sorts of the of parts and pieces of the industry have been looking at ways of tackling some of the abandonment issues out there, or just looking at different strategies for longer term guarantees so you can bring guys back into the workforce,鈥� he said.
When told that almost every service rig company in Saskatchewan is looking for workers, Bayko said, 鈥淭hat鈥檚 great, if people are looking for four to five hands per company. In some ways, I would say that鈥檚 a barometer that things are looking up. But at the same time, I don鈥檛 know how long their looking for guys for. I would suggest one of the reasons they鈥檙e having those issues is they don鈥檛 have longer term work for them.鈥�
That鈥檚 pretty much exactly what most of Saskatchewan鈥檚 service rig companies that Pipeline News has spoken to in the past month have said.
The CAODC puts out recommended wage schedule, which is not binding on members. 鈥淲e haven鈥檛 raised our wages in four or five years now,鈥� he said.
High wages have long been the incentive to work in the industry, he noted, as there are some factors that aren鈥檛 as desirable. 鈥淭he money was always a nice incentive. But in Alberta, we saw an increase in minimum wage, couple that with pay that has not gone up in five years, and work that鈥檚 not steady, and people are leaving the industry and they鈥檙e not coming back.鈥�
There are also far fewer farm boys, traditionally one of the major labour pools, to draw from.
鈥淚n my mind, if things ever do turn around to some degree, I don鈥檛 know of too many (careers) that have such low barriers to entry, but such high ceilings in terms of where you can take a career. I think a lot of young people are frustrated, and looking towards the trades, when they see how competitive some of the software developing opportunities are, or careers that are more focused to new technology. There are a lot of people trying to get a finite number of jobs.鈥�
He noted that working on the rigs is a way to get rid of high student debt and perhaps earn enough to travel. 鈥淚f I had known the opportunities on the rigs when I graduated university, I would have done it for sure. You can work three, four months, make a ton of money, and it鈥檚 seasonal work. If you鈥檙e young, footloose and fancy-free, you can do some travelling, come back and fill up the bank account again.鈥�
If the industry could offer a better wage, he thinks another labour pool could be developed.
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