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Capturing knowledge
Three ways Europe’ s oil and gas industry can adapt to the‘ silver tsunami’.
By Adrian Park
Can European economies grow when their workforce shrinks? Across all industries, the question could be a defining one for the next decade. Today, Europe is the only continent experiencing a decline in its working-age population. It is expected to decrease by five percent by 2033, as larger cohorts of workers retire than enter the workforce.
Few sectors illustrate the challenge as clearly as the oil and gas industry. Globally, one in five of its employees is over 55, according to the 2025 Global Energy Talent Index. A survey by Hexagon found that two-thirds of industry executives already experience a‘ strong’ or‘ severe’ impact from retirements and departures.
But the sector is also caught in a difficult position. Current economic uncertainty and persistent skill shortages limit its capacity to hire in large numbers. At the same time, the industry already lost 700,000 workers during the previous slowdown( 2015 – 2022) and it now risks a significant loss of institutional knowledge, with implications for safety and performance.
To address this, leading companies are investing heavily to capture operational knowledge. They also apply technologies,
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