I had lunch with @ziz Isa, someone I quite look up to, even after he left the company. He’s quite unique as a professional. Not only he had been to overseas assignment where he saw the difference between global affiliate and local, Aziz had mentored some of the supervisors I know in the company. He was among the few who had worked the full spectrum of facilities including control systems, arguably the most valuable breed of engineers in the company. And yet, he was there only as a senior engineer, doing the same thing as a 5-year engineer would.
I check his pigeon box every once in a while, just to help a friend in case any important mail comes in. Earlier in the day, I saw some P&C / “Sulit dan Persendirian” letters that had to be passed to him, thus the establishment of the basis for that lunch. But the lunch was more than just that. It was an eye-opener.
There has been something funny going on in the oil & gas industry, the sole factor of which could be obviously identified as the crude oil price traded at a hundred dollars per barrel, but that might not be the only factor. Bigger companies claim that the smaller companies have been trying to score some quick bucks by offering lucrative packages to attract skilled labors in developing new oil & gas fields. Some assert that such offerings are distorting the supply & demand for the labor market and that’s not good for the economy. But… what if such labor prices ARE the new equilibrium for such market, after the change in crude oil price?
I met with @ziz to understand more from his experience. I had questions and I asked him. Was there any value in becoming such a skillful engineer? If you’re technically sound, why weren’t you being counter-offered? Were you valuable in the company then? Are you valuable now? I tried to cut short and learn from @ziz. Because whatever change necessary for me – the actions will have to start now.
