Is the age of the oil and gas expat coming to an end?

Is the age of the oil and gas expat coming to an end?

The upheaval of 2020 accelerated a number of trends that were already in motion, some slower in motion than others: flexible working, digital communication and employee wellbeing to name but a few.

As 2021 shapes up to be a transformative moment in the energy sector, is the age of the expat coming to an end? Responses to our recent Energy Outlook 2020 Report certainly support this view, with the number of employers with a concrete objective to increase their local workforce to 50%, doubling from the previous year.

Here are four reasons why I believe the future is local:

1. Policy makers want it more than ever

The effort to replace expat workers with locals is not an emerging one, governments of resource-rich nations have long since enforced localisation regulation to increase human capital growth in local economies. While traditionally this legislation has included targets and timelines, there is an increasing expectation in a post-pandemic world that governments will seek to intensify localisation policies as part of their efforts to recover from the economic impacts of the pandemic. Kuwait's move to protect local jobs by banning the recruitment of expats throughout 2020 and 2021 is something we can expect to see more of in