Where will the engineers come from?

Recently we aired the thesis that the oil & gas majors (Exxon, Shell, BP, Total, Equinor et al) have effectively given up on net zero and, with greater or lesser degrees of ‘green camouflage’, intend to be sure of their share of many more decades of mainstream hydrocarbon business.  Shell was Exhibit ‘A’.  Now we read: 

Shell to close Chinese green power generation business            Decision comes amid wider Western exodus from communist country

Warm, fuzzy  …  pic: Octopus Energy, of course!  Their London HQ really is like that

That’s interesting for another reason.  The other day I met a senior Shell bod who told me they can’t recruit UK or US new-graduate engineers for love nor money.  They can’t even retain the ones they’ve got.  Apparently, GenZ kids don’t much want to be engineers anyway; and those that do, want to save the planet in some cosy, purple-Octopus manner.  I’m guessing these kids hope this all comes to pass without their being made to do Hard Sums, too. 

So: to which universities does Shell go with its recruiting campaigns these days, then?   Ans: those of the Far East, almost exclusively.  It’s not just the source of underpaid care workers and nail-bar slaves, then.

The Greens hope(d) to winkle the oil & gas cos out via ESG & investment boycotts, but that doesn’t seem to be working as planned.  If Green indoctrination starves them of home-nation staff, but can’t prevent bright, diligent, mobile Chinese / Malay / Vietnamese / Filipino engineers from filling their ranks, a decade from now, those oil & gas companies are going to have a very odd profile.

Perhaps the Army could also recruit there, too?  The Gurkhas have always been enthusiastic recruits.  And I bet you wouldn’t need to worry about all that pronoun nonsense that’s infected the Armed Forces these days.

ND