NATIONAL PETROCHEMICAL & REFINERS ASSOCIATION

1899 L STREET, NW, SUITE 1000

WASHINGTON, DC 20036

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YESTERDAY’S WORKFORCE… GONE TOMORROW! WHO’S RESPONSIBLE FOR

DEVELOPING THE FUTURE: OWNERS OR CONTRACTORS?

By

Walter Lisiewski, Vice President

JE Merit Constructors, Inc.

Houston, TX

Tammy Walker-Blair, VP, Downstream Operations & Maintenance

KBR
Houston, TX

J. Kent Underwood, Manager

Solutia
St. Louis, MO

Sue Steel, VP of Industrial Services

BE&K
Birmingham, AL

Presented at the

NPRA
2002 Annual Refinery & Petrochemical Plant
Maintenance Conference and Exhibition
May 7-10, 2002
San Antonio Convention Center
San Antonio, TX
This paper has been reproduced for the author or authors as a courtesy by the National Petrochemical &
Refiners Association. Publication of this paper does not signify that the contents necessarily reflect the
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Requests for authorization to quote or use the contents should be addressed directly to the author(s)
 Yesterday’s Workforce…Gone Tomorrow!

Who’s Responsible for Developing the Future:

Owners or Contractors / Both?

Panel Participants

Tammy Blair Vice President KBR

Walter J. Lisiewski, Jr. Vice President JE Merit

Sue Steele Vice President BE&K

J. Kent Underwood Manager, Solutia

Enterprise Engineering

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The Disappearance of the Skilled Workforce

• Affects Maintenance, Construction, and Turnaround projects

• All sizes and types of projects are impacted

• All trades, Nationwide are affected; union and open shop

• Rising project cost, schedule impacts, safety issues

• It is only getting worse

Contractors / Owners Point of View…

• How did we get here?

• Where are we today and where do we see it going?

• Short-term solutions

• Long-term requirements

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How Did We Get Here?
• First predicted in the early 80’s

• Unemployment factors

• Switch from union to open shop

• Minimal Investment in training

• No active recruitment

• Deterioration of K-12 skilled / industrial education

• Technology impact

• Booming economy of the 90’s

• 20 Years Later, Same Issues!

Where Are We Now?

• Aging workforce

• Industry has poor image

• Low pay and fewer benefits

• Weak recruiting efforts

• Contractors / Owners differ on responsibility

• Buying short-term solutions

• Subcontractors

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Where Is It Going?

• Recruitment outside of local area

• Reliance on foreign nationals

• Reappearance of union activities

Short Term Solutions

• Retain existing workforce

- Pay and Benefits

• Image and Recruitment Program

• Use of diversity mandated

• Offer a career path

• Refocus on vocational and high school curriculum

• English as a second language / literacy

• Revisit the assessment and training programs

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Long Term Goals

• Contractors / Owners must work together on training, retention,

imaging, and recruitment

• Owners must mandate change, level the playing field, and take
the lead

• Tax Incentives

• Treat a skilled worker with respect, not a commodity

• Standardized training and certifications

• Work closer with high schools, vocational techs, publish successes

NO MORE STUDIES, JUST DO IT!

Owners Point of View…

• Contractors / Owners must work together to solve the problem

• Owners need to make training a factor in qualifications of contractors

• Endorsement of NCCER

• Owners should become actively engaged in developing craft

training locally

• Union labor should support apprenticeship training

• Owners must incorporate training requirements into their contracts

NO MORE STUDIES, JUST DO IT!

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