New Whitepaper on Petrochemicals Workforce
(PRWEB) January 28, 2015 -- Collaboration between industry and education is vital to the development of the next generation of craft and engineering workforce to fuel the manufacturing renaissance in the US.
‘It seems that along with all the immense investment in land, plant and technology going on in the US petrochemical industry today, the real critical element may turn out to be investing wisely in people – and not just for the short term.’ This is the prominent message from a new whitepaper released featuring interviews with leading executives from the Louisiana Workforce Commission, Fluor, S&B Engineers & Constructors, Construction Users Roundtable and Texas State Technical College.
Along with the continuing discovery of shale gas reserves in the US, the petrochemical and manufacturing industry is enjoying a renaissance – with many companies choosing to renew or re-shore US investments. According to Jim Hanna at Fluor, the ‘ramp-up on the Gulf Coast with shale gas development is unprecedented’ requiring an unprecedented workforce effort from industry and education partners, or the estimated $100billion plus investment planned for the petrochemical industry could be impacted by severe skills shortages. The lack of qualified staff has the potential to cost companies millions each day if left unchecked. Data from the Construction Users Roundtable predicts that as soon as 2017 the shortage could number as many as 2 million workers staffing on planning projects alone.
For the petrochemical and construction companies investing and working on these projects, it seems that in order to secure an adequate workforce, investment in people must go beyond simply paying wages. This is reflected in the huge investments being made into schools, colleges and training programs to support the increasing number of projects planned for the US petrochemical industry. Find out how each of the interviewees is tackling this issue in the whitepaper featuring Louisiana Workforce Commission, Fluor, S&B Engineers & Constructors, Construction Users Roundtable and Texas State Technical College – click here to download the paper http://bit.ly/1uxiC7t
Curt Eysink, Executive Director at the Louisiana Workforce Commission, reports one of the key challenges to overcome is the ‘stigma’ against technical and blue-collar industry jobs. This requires both industry and education to work together to influence the next generation of the craft and chemical engineering workforce. This is why Petrochemical Update have organised the Petrochemical Workforce Development Conference, taking place in Houston 28-29 in Houston.
The event will connect leaders from Shell, INEOS, Lee College, San Jacinto College, BASF Chemical, Fluor, Turner Industries, Houston Community College and independent schools districts in the region as well as the state workforce commissions of Texas and Louisiana.
The Petrochemical Workforce Development Conference & Exhibition is organised by Petrochemical Update – the leading information and networking portal for the petrochemical industry.
For all enquiries regarding NGVs in Europe, details on the event or report please contact:
Jessica Allen | Jessica(at)petchem-update(dot)com | +44 (0) 207 422 4314 | http://bit.ly/1BuqSdC
Joshua Bull, FC Gas Intelligence, http://ngvevent.com/, +44 2073757227, [email protected]
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