WITH global oil demand expected to remain above 90 million barrels a day until 2050, Guyana has solidified itself as a significant player in the oil production space.
This rapid growth and increase in production directly correlates to more oil revenues, more jobs and more opportunities for the country.

Aggressive local content efforts have also been put in place to prioritise local workers. However, questions remain about how to sustain this massive growth and expansion of the economy with a small country.
Guyana has long suffered from economic challenges related to brain drain and the small size of the labour force.

Now, with thousands of Guyanese employed in the oil and gas industry, there are concerns about how to meet labour needs in key industries beyond oil and gas. For example, it was reported recently that the Oko West mining project is in urgent need of 2,500 skilled workers in Guyana within the next 18 months, according to the Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn.

Many of the required skills are the same ones needed for oil and gas, such as construction, engineering, welding and truck driving and there are limited numbers of these skilled workers in the country. The only way for this and other projects to be successful is if a sizeable and skilled workforce is available.

This need for skilled labour is part of a broader human resources challenge as the country looks to balance rapid economic development and strong local content provisions in a small labour market.

Earlier this year, the International Labour Organization (ILO) released a study titled “Prospective occupation skills needs in the Guyanese oil and gas industry 2022-2026”, which provides an in-depth overview of the main profiles and competencies needed in the industry over the next four years. The findings were pulled from surveys and interviews with 29 local stakeholders.

The 29 companies surveyed operate across the oil and gas value chain and employ around 47 per cent of total workers in the oil and gas sectors. Over the next five years, the main occupational profiles in demand will be engineers, risk management professionals, and ship deck crews and related workers. Employment is expected to grow with at least 5,000 new jobs created in the most “in-demand occupations” across the value chain, but 81 per cent of the jobs would require either a higher technical or higher degree of education and training. This would be far beyond Guyana’s current capacity.

For Guyana to become a top oil and gas economy globally within the decade, then the gap between the industry’s labour demand and availability of local skilled workers needs to be bridged expeditiously. The need for skilled labour in the oil and gas industry is the same issue facing the rest of the extraction sector in Guyana, especially as both industries have skills that crossover which creates competition for workers. Many of these jobs also require specialised certifications and other safety training.

Growth can be a challenge in a very small labour market. Since local content laws require the oil and gas industry to use local talent whenever possible, they can sometimes crowd out other industries and make it very difficult for them to hire skilled staff. That challenge must be addressed to make sure the economy remains diverse and to avoid problems like the Dutch Disease.
The government is aware of the increasing need for more human capital, which is why, in January this year, GY$2.5 billion was earmarked for Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) programmes in the 2023 budget.

Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh, said, “[the] importance of Technical and Vocational Education Training to our economy cannot be understated, Guyana is currently growing rapidly, and we need a skilled population to further accelerate this growth.”
Many regional economists have long bemoaned the difficulty of immigration from one Caribbean country to another and many have claimed that less restrictive policies could make it easier for the region to share talent and compete globally.

Beyond government, oil and gas companies are also working to address labour issues in the country.
A main example of this is the Greater Guyana Initiative (GGI) that was created by the Stabroek Block co-venturers in 2021 to support capacity development across the country for the next decade. It has already made several investments in critical areas, including partnerships with TVET and the industry-funded Center for Local Business Development.

A small labour market doesn’t have to be a limiting factor for Guyana and its growing industry. Upskilling Guyanese, especially the youth, and creating policies that will diversify and expand the workforce is integral to ensuring labour needs are being met efficiently.
Guyana is more than capable of being a leading oil producing country, but building a strong workforce is a challenge that will always have to be a priority.