The number of oil and gas contractors working offshore in the North Sea rose by 8.6% during 2013, following record levels of investment. There were 61,892 contractors and employees travelling offshore during the year, the highest number since the Oil & Gas UK’s Demographics Report began in 2006.

The number of contractors and employees in their twenties increased significantly, up 14.7% on 2012. This shows that the age profile of the oil and gas workforce may be balancing towards younger contractors and employees, and making a small contribution to defusing the demographic time bomb threatening the sector as large numbers of older workers near retirement.

“The data in this year’s report confirms that in 2006-2013 the largest increase in the offshore population was in the18-29 age group,” says Oil & Gas UK’s employment and skills issues manager, Dr Alix Thom. “Their presence, and the fact that the average age of the total offshore workforce has dropped from 41.1 in 2012 to 40.8 in 2013, is helping to dispel the common misconception that the offshore population is ageing.”

Less positively, the number of women declined slightly, prompting the industry body to call for measures to tackle gender diversity and to widen the pool of talent in the skills-starved industry.

Thom says: “Given the current level of demand for skilled employees, and the high level of activity on the UK Continental Shelf, it is in the industry’s interest to increase its focus on tackling this lack of gender diversity.”

Given the international nature of the sector, it is perhaps surprising that just over 80% of the core offshore workforce is British. Norwegians represented the greatest number of non-UK nationals working in the North Sea.

Although offshore installations and the contractors and employee who operate them are a fundamental element of the UK’s North Sea oil and gas sector, 86% of the UK industry’s workforce is based onshore.