Quantitative and Qualitative Assessment of Job Role Localization in the Oil and Gas Industry: Global Experiences and National Differences

Abstract

Job role localization is the replacement of expatriates by competent host country nationals. This study investigates the viability of localizing job roles in the oil and gas industry in two stages. The first stage addresses the global level using a survey about local content issues. The second stage focuses on the national level using interviews to investigate how national factors can affect job role localization in Ghana, one of Africa’s oil and gas producing nations. The findings show that different stakeholders often share opinions about local content issues. At the national level there are many national context specific factors that affect job role localization including legislations, culture, attitudes and experience within the labour market. This study finds that localization is becoming increasingly prevalent worldwide. Oil and gas companies must adapt their localization strategies to the national context where they are operating.

Job role localisation in the oil and gas industry: A case study of Ghana

“…A logic-based classification decision tree was developed within this study to analyse the viability of localising a sample of ten job roles in Ghana's O&G sector. It should be noted that this work is part of a broader study with participation of 210 stakeholders who have provided valuable information on local content worldwide and a further 31 people specifically interviewed to discuss the local context of Ghana (Pegram, Falcone & Kolios, 2019). Relevant data, including job specifications, where obtained through engagement with an asset operator in Ghana.…”