Building the talent pipeline in oil and gas

Serba Dinamik Global Skill Centre (SDGC) has been providing short courses for the oil & gas industry since 2003, and developing competent technical professionals is now the focal point of Serba Dinamik Holdings Berhad (SDHB).

We spoke to SDGC about the challenges faced in the oil and gas industry and why 97% of their graduates secure job placements upon completion of the programme.

Background

Regardless of the global oil price, the reliability and performance of Rotating and Static Equipment (RE and SE) are essential activities in the oil and gas industry.

Coupled with expected market growth rate of 3.7% to 2022 reaching up to $35.9 billion, the demand for highly mobile and competent technical professionals is always increasing.

Specialised training programmes in RE and SE are among the highly demanded programmes with City & Guilds accreditation.

These five-month courses provide comprehensive learning on various types of equipment according to API Standards - covering selection, inspection, troubleshooting as well as operation and maintenance.

The challenge

The lack of specialised RE and SE courses in Malaysia, let alone the ones that come with internationally recognised certification, serve as a barrier for national oil and gas companies to become global players.

At the same time the oil and gas industry is riddled with a wide-range of equipment models and standards and Operations and Maintenance (O&M) guidelines. The current educational schemes can be too theory based or very long; both are not ideal in terms of workforce management and development.

Therefore, a specialised training module has to be delivered in a time-effective manner, with a high level of knowledge retention.

The solution

In tackling these major challenges, SDGC incorporates mixed reality technology in its training, offering candidates the opportunity to practice unlimited hands-on skills and gain deeper theoretical understanding.

It is also proven to enhance the knowledge retention rate by up to 80%, which is much higher than the 30% of traditional Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) modules.

By including Basic Engineering and Basic Plant Maintenance certifications in RE and SE, SDGC are able to provide tailored learning and focused assessment to candidates for theoretical understanding and hands-on competencies.

The results

Since the first cohort with City & Guilds back in 2008, SDGC has been the key player in closing the talent gap for oil and gas technical professionals by producing over 600 successful graduates with City & Guilds certifications.

Along with a worldwide network and strong 'learn and earn' concept of SDGC, 97% of our graduates have secured job placements in the oil and gas industry upon completing the technical programmes.