I talked to a friend from another oil company about it and he told me that they are not in any better situation when it comes to attracting talented and capable new young people.
Still, it seems to me that even those who are interested in this industry are not interested in SLB, for whatever reason SLB is less attractive to them than all other companies in the industry?
11 replies (most recent on top)
CEO plan is to jack up sign-up benefits for the desperate souls who have no better prospects. Said souls will join SLB just to get that first line in the CV, then spend 3 years acquiring desirable certifications that will further pad their CV while doing no kind of real work. They will attend useless meetings and events that would foster the delusion of a young and energetic company. Then they will leave.
CEO knows this perfectly well but it suits him and the management to keep said delusion alive in order to kick the can a few more years down the path. In the mean time, lavish salaries and benefits will continue to accrue in their accounts.
The next crisis will mark the end of SLB (or any other service company) as high-tech company, even in name. O&G will become just another branch of the mining business, extracting cheap hydrocarbons from easily accessible reservoirs via automated processes.
Ask yourself if YOU would recommend your children to get a petroleum engineering degree, let alone join a service company. Which is a bit of a pity since I think there will be still some money to make (just look at the coal industry-some folks still work in it-albeit few). But kids today don't look just for a honest job they want the cool factor (honestly-we did the same when we joined SLB at its peak) and O&G now is as cool as fa----g in public.
I spent 25+ yrs working at Schlumberger. Helped many operators refine their drilling targets and add value. However, one thing I learned is that Operators have a 'low opinion' of Service Company people, whether it is warranted or not. All you have to do is look at AAPG, SPE and SEG. These 'professional' organizations are run by people who work/worked for Operators, and are mostly old white men. They only reward & Recognize people who work for Operators.
If you want to be recognized in the O&G industry, If you want to be respected.....Go work for an Operator.
SLB stock is tanked. It does not recover because they are buried in debt.
Debt + Lack of talent = Lack of innovation
Depend on how u define talent. Most manager relative, friend ,neighbor, nephew... Are talent. Why u want to work for company like that. U know u will get fired 1 day for some bsht readon anyway.
CEO shares that the company-wide VOLUNTARY attrition rate is 7%.
that means 1 out of 14 people QUIT, by choice.
how does he think he will get new recruits in when he won't do anything to keep his existing labor force from jumping ship?
even the people that work in the company today don't want to work for them...why the he-l would new kids out of college want to?
« The CEO identified the lack of young talent as one of SLBs top risks going forward and said he wanted to make SLB a recruiter of first choice for top graduates - not a hope in he-l will that be the case. »
It’s a bit late for him to realize that only now. I went to University career fairs 4 years ago and students were already completely uninterested in the oil and gas industry and SLB. Why should they anyway? They will never make 200k$ a year as an Engineer at SLB with great stock options like the Boomers did.
No pay raises for years, fires you or your friends at the drop of a hat, with out of date pay for skills. They can send this boomer a-s sh-t place downhole where they drop their tools.
The O&G ‘hire and fire’ model is out of date now. Taking people on, working them into the ground, and then canning them as soon as there’s a downturn. Why would talent go and work in a company like SLB to get your a-s worked off on a hot and dirty rig site and supposed to be thankful when you can go to a modern tech company with flexible working, chill-out areas, proper career longevity and better money?
Companies like SLB will soon belong in the history books like Victorian mills and sweatshops.
I have a good friend who works in North Sea O&G recruitment in Aberdeen. She says she can’t fill SLB posts that a decade ago she would fill at the drop of a hat. The way the company behaved in the 2014 downturn saw a lot of talent walk away never to return. SLB thought they could cut 10s of thousands and then re-hire them 18 months later when it needed them again. Problem was that a lot of that talent re-trained into other industries in that period, and those that didn’t went to other companies. SLBs reputation as an employer in North Sea is pretty much rock bottom - I’m sure that’s also the case elsewhere. They reap what they sow.
As for recruiting young talent - this generation of young talent doesn’t want to work O&G. They are totally not interested and money won’t change their mind. Re-branding and trying to kid people on you’re not an O&G company doesn’t fool anyone either. It’s too late for that, it should’ve been done 15 years ago. The damage is done now in terms of how the current generation of young graduates perceive the industry and the companies that work in it.
The CEO identified the lack of young talent as one of SLBs top risks going forward and said he wanted to make SLB a recruiter of first choice for top graduates - not a hope in he-l will that be the case. It’s probably THE big issue for SLB now as they are dependent upon innovation, but you can’t innovate if the bright kids are all going to work elsewhere.
Not surprised.. ruthless company it is