Our Expert Dormant Workforce
Our Expert Dormant Workforce
The economic downturn in Western Canada created many casualties in the name of creating corporate efficiencies. Frequently this process begins with the corporation setting a goal to reduce operational costs by an amount that will satisfy its shareholders. Often the strategy to obtain this goal is to canvas the senior staff members and gauge who would be receptive to “early retirement”.
A large percentage of this group have spent 30 + years mastering their craft in their respective fields. Expertise is rewarded with appropriate compensation. As a young industry professional, I admire that fact that many of the members of this vintage raised their hand when asked the question hoping that their sacrifice would preserve the career of a younger co-worker with bills to pay. This has created a unique talent pool flush with experts within their respective fields. This is something that has been a rare occurrence in the perpetually low unemployment environment of the Oil & Gas industry.
This is the same industry that has historically asked senior staff to extend their working years well beyond the government mandated age of 65. To borrow a phrase from a gentleman that I recently shared a coffee with, “We are temporally dormant, not retired”.
Advantages of Keeping Older Workers
According to the SHRM Preparing for an Aging Workforce Survey, the top five reasons to work with older workers as long as possible are:
- More work experience/knowledge (77% of respondents)
- More maturity/professionalism (71% of respondents)
- Stronger work ethic (70% of respondents)
- Ability to serve as mentors to younger workers (63% of respondents)
- More reliability (59% of respondents)
Consider this next time you have a project, such an Acquisition or Divestiture, that would benefit from on demand experts that are ready and more then willing to still roll up their sleeves!
– Lane Boisjoli, Vice President at AiM Land –
Meet Guy
Guy Anderson is a past president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Landmen (CAPL) and a 30-year veteran of the Energy Industry. He is proud to work with a team at Aim that has provided professional services for Acquisitions & Divestitures with transactions in excess of $4 billion dollars.