1. Houston Area Workforce Owners’ Perspective
Welcome attendees to breakfast meeting.
Ask attendees to review HBR guidelines for conducting meetings.
December 08, 2005

2. Crisis or Bump in the Road?
Not a crisis yet
Significant concern for specific crafts, especially short term labor
A predicted problem for many years, accelerated by recent hurricanes
Underlying cause - an aging workforce & few recruits in pipeline
Construction is not an attractive career choice

3. Experience on Recent Turnaround
Increased wages and retention bonuses
>40% turnover of contract craftsmen
>100% turnover of equipment operators
Difficulty in obtaining qualified welders
Instrument craft skills below expectations
Shortage of equipment inspectors
Shortage of repair shops

4. Impact on Work Turnover increasing and replacement difficult
Short term work impacted more than long term workforce
Moving labor between maintenance, construction & T/A’s to level needs
Less qualified workers being used
Some foreign labor is being used

5. Incentives and Actions Taken
Wage increases & retention bonuses
Developing strategies for next T/A’s
Multiple smaller contracts
Compensate for lower skills
At this time most planned projects and turnarounds going forward
Lower priority work may be delayed

6. Impact on Contracting
So far, little impact on existing labor contracts
Will review and adjust as situation continues to evolve
Lump sum difficult without labor cost qualifiers
Increasing number of qualified suppliers

7. What Should be Done?
Continue to disseminate information through associations like HBR, ABC and CMEF
Develop incentives to attract young people into craft work as a career choice
Continue to develop effective skills training programs, consider innovative approaches such as “fast track training”
Long term the labor market will self correct