Offshore jobs on oil rigs pay well, often up to twice the salary of an equivalent job in the manufacturing and construction sectors. These high wages earned by workers without college degrees for performing physical labor. An entry-level rusty could take home over $45,000 each year for doing 6-8 months of work a year. A geology student majoring in oil exploration could easily take home double or triple that, fresh out of school.
Of course, these wages are fair compensation for the dangers and hardships faced by those who work on offshore oil platforms. Despite all the hoopla over the recent Deepwater Horizon accident (with 11 deaths), there were only two other major offshore oil rig accidents in the 2000s: the Mumbai High North in 2005 with 22 deaths and the Usumacinta in 2007. also with 22 deaths. These are pretty small numbers, considering that more than 400,000 Americans die from tobacco use each year (according to the American Cancer Society).
But if workers in offshore oil and gas jobs aren’t paid to face the danger of fatal accidents, why the sky-high wages then? It is mainly the combination of two reasons: the large amount of profits that the oil companies make and the lack of experienced workers willing to stay. The simple fact is that there is a high attrition rate among frontline workers in the offshore oil drilling industry. Many offshore oil workers cannot bear the physical hardships they face: 12-hour shifts of hard physical labor in a dangerous environment, the need to do this work non-stop for two or three weeks without a break (there are no weekends on board an oil rig and operations run 24/7), and having to work night shifts. Although the accommodation is provided free of charge and quite comfortable, many also cannot deal with the noise that occurs day and night.
Going back to the high wages of drilling jobs, at a certain point, these workers receive additional tax relief, that is, in certain circumstances, for example, when the oil rig is in international waters, an oil rig worker who you do not need to pay any income tax. Not only that, he can also claim compensation for his transportation costs, for example driving to and from the helipad to work, as well as driving to and from training. It’s even possible to claim personally purchased work gear, such as steel-toed boots and waterproof suits. In addition to these, he can also claim state tax relief, for example, when he pays taxes for both his residence status and his employment status. Obviously, it is necessary to consult a suitable accountant or tax attorney for advice.
Of course, job seekers who have visited the Shell website or the BP website to search for vacancies abroad may wonder how they can find this type of job. After all, the only jobs advertised on the websites of these big oil companies are for high-level management positions like Regional Account Manager, etc. Unfortunately, the way modern oil drilling works is that the big oil companies outsource the operation of their oil rigs to big oilfield service contractors like Transocean and Halliburton, and then these mid-tier companies further outsource the actual work and construction. recruiting from frontline workers to many more. smaller firms. These subcontracted workers may or may not be on the payroll of the main contractor, depending on the circumstances. For example, they can count these contract workers when they are laying off staff to boost their stock prices, but not when they are expanding their operations.
Keeping these facts in mind, the best way to conduct an offshore job search is to find and submit job applications to small oil drilling service companies and recruiters. They won’t always have an opening, and rarely will they have a proper database to track job applications. Once you find such a company, enter your details into an Excel spreadsheet and submit your resume. Repeat for each company every three to six months until a job abroad is found. Keep in mind that this is also how bulk resume services work.
