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 Are
we in an Employee or Employer market right now in T&T? It depends on what
industry we're talking about.
There are some I.T. skills which are very hard to find e.g., I.T. Salespeople,
Project Managers, Internet Security Specialists to name a few. Most other
I.T. skills are readily available, and so I would say it's still an Employer's
Market for I.T.
Really good, experienced people in any discipline always command a premium rate
because there are so few of them around. When employers cannot find the skills they need and they are desperate, then
you will see tactics like poaching and counter-offers taking place to get/keep
necessary skills to do the work.
Even when candidates really do not
have the experience or depth of knowledge required, they may still be rare
enough to find their salaries shoot up when they decide to test their
marketability. I have heard of at least one case where an Oil & Gas
Engineer went to his employers saying he'd got a job offer. They counter-offered
and a battle took place over him.
When the dust settled, he was still in the same job at nearly double his
original salary. The irony was that he wasn't considered all that great at
his job; it's just that there wasn't anybody out there to replace him.
It's definitely an Employee's Market right now for
several disciplines within the Energy Sector in T&T, such as Civil/Structural
Engineers, Process Engineers, QA/QC Specialists, Quantity Surveyors, Drillers
and so on. Service companies are having a tough time finding resources at
prices that they can afford after bidding for projects. Sometimes there is
no other option but to bring in ex-pats at many times the cost of local
employees.
The benefit of that, in theory, is that the experienced ex-pat can pass on his
international expertise and knowledge to our locals.
There is a lot of good talent undergoing training within the
Energy industry in T&T and one day, they will have that knowledge and experience
to make them in demand internationally. They will be the ex-pats called in
around the globe to help Oil & Gas companies get the job done and bring their
locals up to a world-class standard. When that time comes, CRS will be in
a position to help them find those lucrative jobs anywhere in the world.
We have eyes on the world!
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