Training the Next Wave of Oil and Gas Industry Workers: private, public, and partnering organizations build workforce.

• Author: Swann, Kirsten
• Position: OIL & GAS

There's a looming math question behind Alaska's oil and gas industry. The current industry workforce totals more than 20,000 people, according to a 2014 presentation by the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Over the next several years, the industry will need approximately 7,500 new workers. Priority occupations include engineering, geoscience fields, and remote sensing and inspection, the Alaska Oil and Gas Workforce Development Plan reports. New offshore development opportunities bring a demand for maritime workers, and shifting regulatory requirements have changed industry demand for health, safety, security, and environmental workers.

Meanwhile, attrition means some of the state's most seasoned workers are disappearing in droves, leaving gaps in manpower and skill. So where will the new workforce come from? Answering that question has an industry of its own.

Government, commercial groups, and nonprofits alike have skin in the workforce development game. Statewide, there are numerous training programs and organizations devoted to building Alaska's petroleum industry labor pool.

ASRC Energy Services provides oil and gas-related internships and on-the-job training. The Alaska Process Industry Careers Consortium has its own industry network devoted to workforce development initiatives.

At the University of Alaska, there's the Mining and Petroleum Training Service (MAPTS)--a growing program led by Executive Director Bill Bieber.

Over the course of thirty-six years, more than one hundred thousand people have undergone MAPTS training.

"Over the last two years since I took over, we have completely reestablished what we're doing," says Bieber, who joined the training service following an extensive career in the natural resource sector. "Our biggest challenge is trying to maintain our programs with obviously significant reductions in budget."

MAPTS

MAPTS is a Statewide Corporate Program of the University of Alaska. Industry groups fund approximately 70 percent of the cost while the university picks of the rest of the tab, Bieber says. And like so many other state programs, MAPTS has been faced with some big budget cuts.

Despite the fiscal hurdles, Bieber is bent on expanding MAPTS offerings: focusing on more hard skills, pumping up its mining program, and redesigning the roustabout program.

Currently, the program offers wellhead control classes, mechanical maintenance courses, a certified septic installer class, and consultation services. Wellhead control classes usually see the biggest demand, Bieber says, and many students are already employed as rig operators. Most of the people who participate in MAPTS oil and gas training courses are Alaskan, according to the program's executive director.

Bieber hopes the program's revamped...