Edging closer to the end of a tough year for the Canadian oil and gas industry, companies are looking ahead to – what many hope – will be at least a better year in 2016. Still, 37 percent of Canadian businesses expect further decreases in industry activity, according to findings from the “2016 Hays Compensation, Benefits, Recruitment and Retention Guide.”



The guide, which included 184 respondents – the majority who are in Alberta – showed that 63 percent of oil and gas professionals said they decreased headcounts in 2015. As far as hiring projections for 2016, more than one-third (35 percent) believe headcounts will drop again in 2016. This aligns with the “lower for longer” oil price environment industry experts expect to last through 2016 and well into 2017.

Despite the industry downturn, the report reveals that 58 percent of companies have a moderate to extreme skills shortage, namely because of a lack of training and the number of people leaving the industry altogether. Twenty-two percent of companies said they are doing nothing to attract talent, which can be attributed to the slow market.

Bloomberg recently reported that the oil crash pushed Alberta’s unemployment rate to 7 percent last month, ahead of Ontario’s rate of 6.9 percent, for the first time since 1994.