Knowledge Centre
Employment
Key facts
The industry in 2010 is providing employment for 440,000 people across the whole country:
- The exploration for and extraction of oil and gas from the UKCS accounts for around 340,000 of these, comprising:
- 32,000 directly employed by oil and gas companies and their major contractors
- 207,000 within the wider supply chain
- 100,000 jobs supported by the economic activity induced by employees’ spending.
- In addition, a thriving exports business is estimated to support a further 100,000 jobs.
- Whilst the oil and gas industry provides work across the whole of the UK, Scotland benefits the most with 45% of jobs. 21% are in South East England, 6% in North West England, 5% in West Midlands and 5% in Eastern England.
- Each £1 billion spent on the UKCS supports approximately 20,000 jobs.
- Jobs in the UK oil and gas industry are highly skilled and well rewarded. 2008 salaries averaged circa £50,000 a year across a broad sample of supply chain companies, with the Exchequer benefiting by £19,500 per head in payroll taxes.
- Set up in 2007, OPITO is the oil and gas industry’s focal point for skills, learning and workforce development. It is an industry funded, employer-led organisation committed to developing the oil and gas industry’s workforce capability now and in the future.
