GENTLEMEN! , YOUR VIEWS ARE SOUGHT! !!

[Alex Kerr]

I Haven’t posted on the site for a while, but I think this needs the input of as many guys as I can reach.
WTF is going on in this industry!!!???
I know it’s the off season and most of us are scratching or asses and waiting for our next contract, but the email I received today highlights a bigger issue.
"Do you intend leaving the industry if your certs run out" – was a question from a Dutch recruiter. WTF!!!.
With the requirements already being asked for by these guys, eg, existing visas, every trivial course they can think of, "have you experience on quasar 12", do you have a Nicaraguan purple fever vaccination? , and God knows what other dumb question, I was even asked once if I had experience of launch and recovery using a remote? ?.
My question to recruiters and operators is this:
As we are in the midt of a downturn and you guys are unwilling to provide currency in even the most trivial of requirements, (I personally missed out on a contract early in 2015, when a "half day H2S course had expired), and if recruiters ( and I don’t think I’ll have been to the only person be asked this question) are now asking guys their intention of remaining in the industry. Who and what level of skills base do you think is going to be around in the industry when things pick up again? .
It maybe not in oil but things will pick up again.
GENTLEMEN YOUR VIEWS ARE SOUGHT! !!. 😈 🙄 😈 🙄

[Ray Shields]

And ladies….

[Member Deactivated]

this will keep happening and you will still have your people chasing that dollar..i don’t have no pity for any idiot that’s going to stay in the industry.. and far as all these companies closing down and merging .. I could careless if all the oil and gas companies shut down for good..
so all you retards out there in the oil and gas industry with no jobs quit crying like a bunch of biotches……..

[Etienne Demers]

lollllllll

Do you have experience using a remote control. lolllll

Have you ever troubleshooted failures with incandescent 100 watts screw on type light emitting bulbs.

I wonder if these guys ever get asked these stupid questions when they apply to be recruiters…

"Oh you want to work as a recruiting agency?

Do you have experience with Lenovo A5000 running windows 8.1 but using outlook version 7.8374?"

Best answer to the email you got is yes, I quit this industry, don’t contact me again. Or my personal favorite: "My rate is 1500USD a day and don’t contact me unless you can afford me…"

It really irritates me to be contacted by juniors that are out fishing. I just plainly refuse to deal with them. And if people want this to stop then they should stop "biting". Just contact your regular agency to validate the work.

I know the senior recruiters and they know me if anything decent comes along they get in touch.

Those of us that have been around for long enough don’t need agencies to find work anyway…

[Alex Kerr]

Attended the Subsea Expo, in Aberdeen, last week, quite a black picture being painted for 2016 by agencies, operators, equipment suppliers and manufacturers alike.
Good to catch up with some old faces though, although my sore head might not agree!!.
I hope all my friends and colleagues past, present and future manage to secure gainful employment throughout the year.

PS: "windfarms in Helgoland have a full inspection program kicking off in April/May"

[Herman]

this will keep happening and you will still have your people chasing that dollar..i don’t have no pity for any idiot that’s going to stay in the industry.. and far as all these companies closing down and merging .. I could careless if all the oil and gas companies shut down for good..
so all you retards out there in the oil and gas industry with no jobs quit crying like a bunch of biotches……..

Your input has so far not been of any value, at least not that I can see. May be missing the bit.

I normally don`t judge others, but you only seem to be angry and try to piss others off. Guess people just love it, you being part of the team.

From now on, I will ignore your posts. 🙄

[Ray Shields]

No need to, he won’t be posting anymore 😀

[Alex Kerr]

Read it, Didn’t touch it, I’m a very old man, and this ain’t my first barbeque!!! 😆 🙄 😆 🙄

[Alex Kerr]

I started this thread a couple of weeks ago, then logged in today to check any updates.
So many views and yet so few additions.
Since I first posted, I’ve attended the sub sea expo and spoke to loads of offshore guys there, and via email and phone, and we are all in the same boat. Facing a struggle to find contracts, being offered lower day rates, cuts to travel days or whatever.
We all know that both recruiters and company men regularly check out the forums on sites like this one, my question was directed to them and yet there has been no input of any note.
Guess everyone is still too busy having their cake and eating it, even now!. 🙄 ❓ 🙄 ❓

[rovnumpty]

Ok Spark, I’ll bite.

After a serious amount of crystal ball gazing, I think that the industry might be in the process of committing suicide.

This isn’t something that has been caused by the downturn – it’s been happening for a long while now – but the downturn has brought it into sharp focus.

In my experience, around 10 years ago or so, the focus on personnel changed from getting the best at the lowest price to getting the cheapest no matter what.

The Rov manafactures actively assisted this by supposedly building ROVs that ‘anyone’ could fly and that they could fix remotely from the beach. Load of crap, but lots of companies bought into this nonsense in the hope that they could get their personnel costs down.

Other companies decided to follow Oceaneering business model and opt for the ‘high percentage of trainees’ method of getting costs down, even if their particular area of business was more ‘challenging’ operationally than Oceaneerings.

These, coupled with the traditional ‘race to the bottom’ price wise that the ROV contractors have always participated in, has led to greater and greater emphasis on spending a s little on personnel as possible

This has led to the situation where the operational skill set in any given ROV team is nearly impossible to predict for companies and Clients alike. Hard to plan or price a subsea job when you have no idea if the ROV will take 2 hours to do something, or 2 days.

This has led to a lot of companies to look for other options. Divers if shallow enough, greater investment in Autonomous vehicles and the ‘remote piloting’ arrangement some places are trying, or the ROV DP option to take as much of the skill out of the job as possible.

Of course ‘less skill’ also means ‘lower pay’, feeding the cycle even more.

The Irony is the companies could have put proper work class operational training and TESTING in place years ago for a fraction of the cost of what they’re now spending on R&D for all these fancy engineered solutions. They didn’t because a lot of them had been stung when they went down the same route with the divers, who promptly got unionised and could then dictate rates.

So, to sum up, we’re screwed. There will still be ROV work, but paid about the same as your average Philippino DPO.

[Andy Shiers]

I remember 1986 and 1990 slumps ,
Also been in the industry as a freelancer for many years 🙄
The big difference regarding this particular year is the Glutton of ‘pilots’ , – Training Schools and Agencies ( Or Leaches as I like to call them ) sprouting up all over the place. This time of the year is ALWAYS quiet ! Makes sense as the weather is not ideal for Operations and waste of money keeping Crewed up WOW in port. All ‘Old hands’ no this !
Companies wanting to expand increase their employees and now they are made redundant which increases the amount of freelancers. The Inspection Program went into overdrive due to the Piper Alpha tragedy. We had a Flash in the pan FibreOptic Industry and now we have the Windfarm generating extra work for ROV’s as well as the Oil and Gas.
The Oil and Gas companies cut back on the maintenance and inspection programs due to loss in Profits but this WILL turn round and bite them in the ass when their Assets fall apart and there is Death and major injury on them. This will inject new work for us. If you are Naïve to think Just because you have done a "ROV course" at a "ROV School" with a Videoray or other ‘Micro ROV’ that you will be entitled to mass amounts of money …………….. Think again ! ……… Another reason why the rates are shite is because of desperate people with no experience willing to go out for peanuts YOU ARE THEN THE BUMS ON SEATS ! 😕 If you are a ‘Oldhand’ you know this and will have put money aside for these such occasions ! It ain’t rocket science ! We had the same problem with the diving industry and the Coded welding institute seeing a means of making money ! Money grabbing W#nkers and their expiry dates ! 😕 Yet without the certs in date ……… You did not go out on a Job let alone go in the water ! If you lie about your experience ……….. YOU WILL GET FOUND OUT and Black listed Simples.

[Alex Kerr]

Simples??,not so my friend!
The above are all very salient points guys, and eloquently put!.
The questions though, were not for you or me to answer, but input and debate greatly appreciated!. we all know the problems with "bums on seats", and I don’t doubt that like me, you guys have had to "run one or two off in your career (unfortunately more than one or two, I did say I’m quite an old guy!!), but the points remain that unless the agencies and companies start honing down their candidates list, by checking and profiling their candidates / clients realistically, the prospects for guys who rely on them for contracts will never improve.
"Lostboy", states that, old hands should have been preparing for the lean times, and this is very true, as we do every year. But the lean times recently, for some, have turned into an overnight collapse of all prospects, and this is bad for us all. Even I, who has been lucky enough only to use agencies on a handful of occasions over the years, still like to know that the option is there. But what I see is the inexorable drive to the bottom.
So, my point, and let me be clear, directed to recruiters, agencies, operators, Profile and verify your employees work history, sell the strength of your candidates, highlight the dangers of the "unprofessional", realistically put a price on a deployment and for gods sake, at least try to get a handle on the industry your trying to recruit in!!
Take note-
Red Adair: If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.

A man sadly missed: Professional is not a label you give yourself, it is a description hard won by study, effort and practise.

Wise man: Pay peanuts, get monkeys.

"in the above rant I started two sentences with "but", bad form, sorry!

[Alex Kerr]

Check out the post by "Col" on the ROVPR thread —–I rest my case!! 💡 💡

[Col]

That’s the way it is now Spark. When hiring or subbing we can afford to be very, very picky. As I’m sure you know, it’s not a massive industry and once you’re on the black list you’ll struggle, especially in the current climate. Goes for individual guys and for agencies. We’ve got a couple of large agencies now that we won’t touch now because they’ve sent us out absolute dross.

[Alex Kerr]

Perhaps a good thing to come out of this current dark period is a "thinning of the herd", I don’t think many who have had a career in the industry could deny that it needs it.
Been too many guys showing up on jobs with few applicable skills, an expensive "certificate" from a training school, and a desire to be supervisor in a year. 🙄 🙄

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