PwC survey: 41% of global oil, gas CEOs plan to add employees in 2017

Just 41% of oil and gas chief executive officers from around the world plan to increase headcounts at their companies, and 27% plan to decrease headcounts, according to PwC LLP’s 20th CEO survey.

The professional services firm interviewed 83 oil and gas executives in 39 countries as part of the survey to get their insights on the economy, the impact of globalization, and technological changes.

Fifty percent of the chief executives believe automation and other technologies won’t decrease headcount.

PwC notes the industry is beginning to use more technology—such as drones, robots, and artificial intelligence—so the scenario may change in the future. For now, just 5% of the oil and gas chief executives interviewed think technology will cause decreases in headcount to a large extent.

More than 75% believe technological threats to company trust will likely stem from social media risks, cybersecurity breaches, and IT outages.

Ninety-three percent believe the top individual threat for the industry regarding stakeholder trust stems from IT outages and disruptions; 93% are also addressing the issue. Other individual top threats to stakeholder trust include: cyber security, 91%; risks from use of social media, 82%; and breaches of data privacy, 80%.