Recruitment added to all-in deal

Walvis Bay-based Manica
Group has added
specialised recruitment to
its list of services in order to meet
the needs of companies exploring
for gas and oil offshore.
It falls within a new Manica Oil
and Gas division, which has been
strengthened in order to support
the petrochemical industry.
The “immense logistics”
behind the oil and gas industry
is mostly hidden from view,
and includes the movement of
large numbers of specialised
personnel to and from the drilling
platforms, as well as shore-based
support, says Nolito Marques,
communications coordinator for
the Manica Group Namibia.
Manica decided to use its inhouse
human resources capability
to support its clients because
there was no suitable recruitment
agency in the port.
Finding staff to work
on rigs poses a number of
challenges. “One of the strangest
requirements was that the
workers had to be able to jump
out of helicopters – and this was
a requirement for cleaners. We
ended up recruiting two young
men,” he says.
The arrival of the rigs has also
introduced a new lexicon to the
human resources profession
in Walvis Bay – jobs such as
roughneck, roustabout, toolpusher
and derrickhand were previously
unknown.
These are in addition to
shuttling other crew such as
doctors, engineers and welders
required by the rigs. Manica also
arranges the work permits of
foreign specialists.
“We operate our own shuttle
service to and from the airport,”
he says.