Indigenous Firm Laments Poaching

Indigenous firm, Engineering Automation Technology Limited (EATECH) has bemoaned the high rate of poaching of trained skilled staff from indigenous oil and gas firms by foreign multinationals saying it was one bane to the growth of the local industry and demanding for regulatory institutions to step in and halt the negative trend.

Emmanuel Okon, managing director of EATECH, one of the local contracting firms in the Nigeria petroleum industry said staff poaching came second to funding constraints, as challenges facing indigenous firms in the industry. And he said unless efforts were made to address the ills, it would be difficult for local firms to take full advantage of the local content policy initiative of the federal government.

Okon spoke at the fifth year anniversary of the company held in Lagos recently where he also demanded that local firms commit more funds into boosting the growth of the education sector of their host or operating communities as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility.

“Funding presents itself as the major factor facing most indigenous entrepreneurs in running successful business in the oil and gas industry,” said Okon.

“Indigenous companies providing similar services like their foreign counterparts are paid less thereby affecting negatively their ability to sustain competent and certified personnel especially those trained by them.

“The twin evil of poaching trained personnel by multinational companies and sustaining these trained personnel by local companies is a challenge which requires the intervention of regulators,” he added.

Okon who identified the high remuneration of staff by multinational firms noted that they were able to pay higher salaries because they usually got more income earnings from even similar contracts or jobs performed by local firms.

He said to improve the man-power base for local firms, despite the poaching for foreign firm, EATECH had to inaugurate an award (that goes with N100,000 gift) for the best graduating student of Electrical and Electronic Department of the Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic, located in Ikot Ekpene.