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After the Bust - HR Automation Means Faster Restaffing


When massive new hiring is essential to a company's profitability, having the best automated HR software system working for you is a must. Alberta's current energy extraction employment landscape is the perfect example of how Industrial NetMedia's HR Director software could be the Human Resources automation solution you've been looking for. Here's the whole story.

A little background

As most know, the Province of Alberta, one of Canada's strongest economic drivers, suffered through two years of "bust" following the oil price crash of 2014 which dropped rates from a lofty $115 per barrel, down to a paltry $35.00. An estimated 150,000 oilpatch jobs disappeared, with the worst hit region being Calgary where real estate experts, Cushman and Wakefield, report close to a quarter of that once-bustling city's office space was vacant by the end of 2016.

Then Came the Recovery

But this is Alberta where wholesale changes in both economics and weather are hardly surprising but widely expected. Thanks to the province being on a never-ending boom/bust cycle, ever since the birth of Alberta's oil industry, we "hurtin' Albertans" knew oil would eventually recover, and we would return to being the place with low unemployment and high-paying jobs.

The Day the Bust Ended

One of the first hints that the dark days were over (at least until the next bust) was contained in a report late in 2016 by the Financial Post. The FP story revealed Precision Drilling was taking a leap of faith and hiring back 1000 people to staff their Western Canadian drilling platforms. This sent a clear message to every drilling company in the industry. If you wanted well-trained crews tomorrow, you better get busy on-boarding today. Those with HR automation would definitely have a leg up on their competition.

The early bird gets the work

With Precision Drilling bursting from the starting gate, scooping up the most readily-available talent, Alberta's other energy extraction companies were now suddenly facing another tough challenge. They would have to quickly on-board a large number of employees to replace those who had been let go when oil prices bottomed out. Now that prices have begun rebounding, drilling companies were now competing in a race to reassemble their rig crews. The faster they could act, the more certain they could be of having the personnel they need to staff every shift. The companies slow to rehire would be missing out on the sudden surge in drilling contracts which are their lifeblood.

DANGER! Shallow pool!

The reason the slower-to-react drilling companies will be at a disadvantage is that during the two years of low oil prices, the pool of talent shrank significantly.  Many of those 150,000 unemployed people  didn't just sit and wait for their jobs to return. Some moved back to their home provinces, while others landed new jobs which offered steady, comfy, 9 to 5 employment. Although these jobs didn't pay nearly as well as oilpatch jobs, they allowed these former rig camp workers more time for family, friends and fun. Even if family finances might be tight, they weren't about to leave the security of their steady employment for two weeks here and three weeks there in the oilpatch even though the pay is much better. Once burned, twice careful.

This meant the companies who could respond most quickly to hire those still available for work from the dwindled talent pool were going to be ahead of the game.

Who's on First?

The talent most needed initially by drilling companies, wasn't yet the tool pushes, drillers and rig crews, but Human Resource specialists to repopulate the oilpatch workforce with those other skill sets. The faster an HR team can be assembled and given the proper tools to work with, the sooner a drilling firm can get back in the fray and start making money again. Don't miss out on this opportunity to quickly rebuild your workforce with HR Director software exclusively from Industrial NetMedia!


Author: Chris McKerracher

Chris McKerracher is a Social Media Marketer and Professional Writer for Industrial NetMedia. Chris has worked as a journalist, editorialist and humourist for a number of Alberta newspapers since 1995. He has also written eight theatrical plays which have been produced with the ninth to be staged in May of 2016.

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#206, 5904 - 50 Street, Leduc, Alberta.
T9E 0R6 Canada
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