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The looming global analytics talent mismatch in oil and gasBy Robert J. Thomas, Charlene Hou, Elizabeth Craig, James Arnott and Julie Adams

October 2012

The looming global analytics talent mismatch in oil and gas

2 | Accenture Institute for High Performance | Copyright © 2012 Accenture. All rights reserved.

As demand for oil rises worldwide, industry players will continue to expand and deepen their operations globally. They will need to focus more sharply on efficiency, reliability and competitive positioning. To accomplish all this, they will need legions of analytics talent—people with the ability to use statistics, quantitative analysis and information-modeling techniques to make business decisions. However, new research from the Accenture Institute for High Performance demonstrates that a critical mismatch between supply and demand of analytics talent is looming.



A challenged industryThe continued growth in energy demand and increasing challenges in accessing reserves is turning industry players’ attention to the exploration and development of reserves in more locations than ever globally. Some are expanding operations to countries such as Australia and Canada in addition to more traditional places like the North Sea or the Gulf of Mexico. Others are focusing on more frontier plays like the pre-salt in Brazil and Angola, East Africa and unconventional basins containing shale and tight oil and gas reserves. Even the yet unexplored Arctic basins are starting to figure prominently in some of the oil majors’ upstream strategies. Many are also making strategic investments in renewables such as wind, solar and biofuel.

Over the past decade, there has been an increasing focus on the more profitable upstream sector for many oil companies as the downstream environment becomes more challenging. For many oil companies with downstream operations (refining, marketing and petrochemicals), refineries are located in markets with high oil prices and stagnant demand, resulting in considerable overcapacity. For most integrated oil companies, refining is responsible for more than 80 percent of their downstream capital, costs and revenues.1 Additionally, alternative transportation fuels, stringent environmental regulations, as well as competition from newer and more complex refineries in Asia and the Middle East are eating into profits. Companies who previously had

little incentive to change their business model now need to reevaluate the global refining landscape and its impact on their businesses. Thus generally, the international oil companies (IOCs) are concentrating more on upstream activities and rationalizing their downstream portfolios. Some are taking one step further and de-integrating altogether. For example, in 2012, ConocoPhillips split its upstream and downstream activities into two separate companies.

As the industry’s upstream drives the majority of profits for most large IOCs, achieving high performance here is crucial. However, the general industry environment has become more challenging. Capital and operating costs have soared, owing to technically intensive projects, regulatory changes and a shortage of talent. Moreover, competition for skills is fierce. In some markets, retiring employees are not being replaced with new graduate engineers; in other markets, employers are required to meet government quotas for local recruitment or compete with other resources companies for the same talent bases. Finally, as portfolios expand and operations move into areas which are not only remote, but where projects are complex and large-scale, excellence in managing projects and operations is increasingly becoming a competitive differentiator.

Analytics is one area forward-thinking oil and gas companies are looking to as they seek to improve how they run and operate their businesses and deliver their capital projects. In the next few years, more and more of them will be deploying predictive analytics to optimize every facet of their industry. They will ramp up their investments in technological infrastructure, processes, governance, culture, and most of all—talent.

In the next few years, more and more forward-thinking oil and gas companies will be deploying predictive analytics to optimize every facet of their industry.



The analytics imperative—upstream and downstream Oil companies routinely run huge volumes of data; for example, through complex models for seismic interpretation or to adjust refining configurations as feedstocks change. But with competition for resources heating up, cost pressures multiplying and project demands proliferating, data is more crucial than ever for gaining a competitive edge. And that makes analytics talent more important both upstream and downstream.

Upstream

Oil and gas companies already use analytics extensively in their upstream operations, both in the exploration and production phases.

In exploration, for example, geologists review satellite pictures, aerial images and radar to discern and confirm reservoirs and geological formations that may contain hydrocarbons. Because drilling is costly and risky (and increasingly so due to new regulatory requirements and exploration of unconventional reserves), companies need to apply highly analytical and advanced knowledge of geology, seismology and geophysics long before the drilling starts. Sophisticated 4-D seismic data ensures more favorable odds of drilling a successful well, but it can take months to analyze.

Companies that accelerate this process can evaluate potential oil and gas prospects faster and more accurately – reducing costs and mitigating the risk that the well is dry.

At the production stage, more companies are using analytics to increase the percentage of hydrocarbons that can be recovered commercially. This helps them reduce their capital outlay and enhance their profit. As fields mature, production requires highly technical recovery methods, such as pumping the well with water, carbon dioxide, steam or certain gases to build pressure that increases the flow of oil or gas out of the reservoir. For oil companies moving into unconventional plays like shale gas, analytics can be used to model the essential geophysical features and production data of each well (and in this environment, there are a lot). Companies can not only identify the production drivers, determine better metrics and improve production techniques, but also improve production forecasting, ultimately benefitting their bottom lines.

Finally, to prevent significant disruption to production, oil companies conduct ongoing maintenance and repair. Many are already using sophisticated dashboards, portals and simulation models that indicate when to perform a well work over or replace equipment. Some have also begun analyzing and gathering data from wells in real time to monitor well performance. Most are now using more complex production optimization models linked to other databases to boost field performance. Many also use predictive analytics to promote equipment maintainability and reliability, leading to reduced operational risk.

DownstreamOil companies have been using analytics for some time in the downstream business. At the simplest level, analytics helps refiners lift data from the thousands of sensors around their refining complex and track their output in real time. This helps them assess operations and gain ideas for improving the refinery’s efficiency.

Analytic techniques today support refining strategies aimed at reducing costs and enhancing margins. One strategy is to concentrate on key products; for example, refining ultra-low sulfur diesel and jet fuel rather than an entire product slate. Some refiners are considering shared services across sites or organization units to increase efficiency, effectiveness and competitiveness. Most are trying to simplify and standardize their operations and reduce costs by eliminating redundant software and using fewer applications to do more. Others are trying to better integrate their refining processes to improve collaboration and information exchanges between people and applications.

Analytics also has widespread application in oil and gas storage and marketing. Companies are increasingly using analytics to engage with more mobile, sophisticated and demanding consumers—with the goal of driving fuel sales, improving retail site operations or capturing new business opportunities. They are also using analytics to explore important trends, such as in fuel demand. For example, companies today can use analytics to understand driving speed’s impact on fuel consumption and carbon emissions.



We examine the industry’s analytics talent needs by type of analytics skills used at work rather than by specific jobs or roles. We see three main types with distinct skills and responsibilities: analytics scientists, who construct complex models to extract insights from data; analytics experts, who apply these statistical models to business problems; and analytics specialists, who take the output of analytics models and algorithms, combine that with their specialized business knowledge and generate insights that can be acted on by the rest of the organization. (For examples of each type of analytics talent, see sidebar: Help wanted.)

Finding analytics talent in the global market is a growing challenge as more and more companies in virtually every industry join the hunt for these scarce skills. Given this context, it is becoming increasingly important that oil and gas companies have a good understanding of analytics talent demand and supply to inform their skills and sourcing strategies. Two questions are important: Where will they have analytics jobs to fill? And will there be enough analytics talent available?

Commodities traders’ use of analytics is also changing. Oil and gas products are the most traded commodities globally, by volume and value. Traditionally, traders have used analytics for stress testing and forecasting, which helps them assess market risk and determine optimal prices for buying and selling oil and gas futures. However, as markets have become both more regulated and transparent, traders have also begun using analytics for asset modeling, regulatory change forecasting and—most important—real-time visibility into the global commodities market.

Analytics talent’s essential role in oil and gasBecause advanced analytics will be increasingly essential to success, oil and gas companies will need analytics talent more than ever. These are people with the ability to use statistics, quantitative analysis and information-modeling techniques to shape business decisions. In the oil and gas industry, analytics talent is often associated with the scientists and petroleum engineers who work on rigs or in refineries. Many of them have doctorates in fields such as chemistry, physics, geology, statistics and operations research. However, the industry also depends on graduates with advanced skills in economics or information technology to conduct sophisticated trading and to manage risks.

Companies need a range of analytics skills to launch new, sophisticated upstream and downstream strategies.



Analytics expert

Reservoir Engineer

Job description:• Conduct reservoir modeling and

simulation using VIP and other tools to develop strategies for new well delivery, production growth, surveillance of relevant field sectors and wells, and depletion planning.

• Analyze surveillance and other data, and incorporate it into dynamic models to support optimization of new well locations.

• Lead sector reviews – integrating all relevant data to support recommendations regarding well off take and injection rates.

Requirements:• Bachelor’s degree in petroleum

engineering; Master’s preferred.• 10 years of experience in field

development planning and depletion planning.

• 7 years of experience in reservoir simulation in oil fields.

• Ability to analyze static and dynamic reservoir data and make operational decisions based on overall reservoir performance, and familiarity with uncertainty analysis.

• Gas and /or oil (water flood) field management experience.

• Strong communication and teamwork skills.

Analytics specialist

Technical Assistant

Job description:• Work in multi-disciplinary team

supporting engineers, business planners and other analytics functions to solve problems, analyze data issues, and generate reports on production, financials and performance.

• Explore opportunities to streamline data management processes and improve workflows.

Requirements:• At least an associate’s degree in math,

computer science, statistics or IT related field or a minimum of 3 years’ experience in petroleum-related technology or computer science.

• Strong communications skills and experience working in a team environment.

• Experience with databases and other more advanced applications preferred, i.e. DSS, PEEP/DTree, MS Project, SAP, PowerTools, HIS Database, Spotfire.

Analytics scientist

Senior Geophysicist

Job description:• Evaluate the hydrocarbon potential

of unexplored basins by analyzing and interpreting 2-D and 3-D seismic data, including fault and horizon interpretation, seismic reprocessing, depth conversion, velocity modeling and seismic attribute analysis.

• Develop a prospect inventory and identify and characterize new ventures for exploration access.

• Participate in technical meetings with partners and government agencies concerning geophysical issues.

• Mentor less-experienced geophysicists to develop capability for the company.

Requirements:• Master’s degree in geophysics;

PhD preferred.• 10-25 years’ geophysical experience.• Ability to work with a variety of

geophysical datasets.• Willingness/ability to travel up to

100% of the time.

Help wanted: Analytics talent





Figure 1: Analytics jobs in oil and gas (thousands), 2010-2015

The industry’s analytics workforces are the largest in the US and China. The largest number of new jobs will be there too.

China Brazil India UK Japan SingaporeUS

CAGR 3.9% 3.5% 3.6% 2.9% 2.4% 0.7% 1.9% 2010-2015

Source: Accenture Institute for High Performance analysis.

Analytics jobs in 2010

Additional analytics jobs by 2015

25.2

5.3

15.3

2.9

7.3

1.4

7.0

1.1

7.1

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1.20.1

Analytics jobs in the oil and gas industryThe Accenture Institute for High Performance undertook a yearlong project to gather and distill data on job creation and skills availability in the market for analytics talent to determine whether companies will be able to find the talent they need, where they need it.2 As part of our research, we assessed the size of oil and gas companies’ dedicated analytics groups in key analytics areas. These areas include safety, asset management, demand forecasting, regulations, operations, location decision-making, energy valuation, marketing, supply chain, pricing and energy trading. We also forecasted the number of analytics jobs companies will add in these areas between 2010 and 2015.

We focused our study on companies in the US, UK, Japan, Singapore, Brazil, China and India because of these nations’ roles as producers and consumers of analytics talent in many different industries, including oil and gas. Of course, oil and gas companies everywhere—including the Middle East, Russia, Norway, Mexico, Venezuela and Canada—will experience growing demand for analytics talent.

Today’s global talent footprint

Oil and gas companies in the countries we studied together employed 69,900 analysts in 2010, and they will add 11,900 new analytics jobs by 2015. The industry’s analytics workforces are largest in the US. (See Figure 1.) Jobs are also growing the fastest there, owing to the size, scope and transformation of the country’s oil and gas industry. Some analysts see North America (the US, Canada and Mexico) as the fastest-growing region globally in terms of oil production outside of the Middle East over the next few years.3 Companies expect to add 5,300 new analytics jobs in the US to reach 30,500 such jobs by 2015, up from 25,200 in 2010—a 21 percent increase.

Aside from the US, growth in the number of analytics jobs in the industry will be led by the high-growth markets. The industry’s analytics workforces are second largest in China. This vast nation is driving energy demand growth globally and is developing its own oil and gas reserves to boost production. Brazil, with one of the world’s most sophisticated biofuels industries, recently discovered offshore oil reserves that could position it as the third-largest global oil producer.4 The industry will see analytics jobs grow 3.5 and 3.6 percent per year in China and Brazil, respectively.

The pace at which analytics jobs are being created in these countries is not surprising: The US and China rely on the oil and gas industry to fuel their national economic growth. And Brazil is poised to become a key producer of oil and gas as well as refined products.



Japan and Singapore, on the other hand, have the fewest analytics jobs in the industry (and will add the fewest new such jobs in the future) because the sectors there are largely concentrated in downstream business and trading. Nevertheless, we expect to see growing demand for analytics talent in both Singapore and Japan. Singapore is becoming increasingly important as a key trading hub, and Japan’s energy-policy changes after the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster could increase demand for people who can do predictive analytics.

In some countries, the oil and gas industry will add analytics jobs faster than the national rate of employment growth. (See Figure 2.) For example, analytics jobs will be created two times faster than overall job growth in the UK and four times faster than overall job growth in the US. Industry players will also add analytics jobs aggressively in the other important oil and gas-producing nations not included in this study, as those countries develop their energy industry further and their NOCs increase their international presence.

Figure 2: Growth in analytics jobs in oil and gas and overall national employment, 2010-2015

Industry players in the UK and the US will add analytics jobs far faster than their nations’ overall employment growth.

0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6%-1%


5%

4.5%

4%

3.5%

3%

2.5%

2%

1.5%

1%

0.5%

0%

Grow

th in

ana

lyti

cs J

obs

Overall national employment growth

Bubble size corresponds to employment in the oil and gas industry (2010)

USChina

UK

Japan

Singapore

India

Brazil



New jobs by type of analytics talent

Oil and gas employers in the countries we studied are adding jobs for each type of talent at about the same pace. (See Figure 3.) As analytics techniques pervade every activity of the industry, companies need a range of analytics skills to launch new, sophisticated upstream and downstream strategies.

China

India

Japan

Brazil

0.6

0.6

0.7

3.5

3.6

3.6

3.1

3.4

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2.9

UK

US

Singapore

3.5%

4.0

3.9

2.3

2.4

2.4

1.8

1.8

2.0

Figure 3: Growth by analytics job type in oil and gas, 2010-2015

In each country studied, jobs for analytics scientists, experts and specialists will grow at about the same rates.


Hig

h-gr

owth

eco

nom

ies

Mat

ure

econ

omie

s

Analytics scientistsAnalytics expertsAnalytics specialists



CAGR 3.5% 3.1% 3.5% 2.3% 2.7% 0.6% 1.8% 2010-2015

Of course, growth rates do not say much about the number of analytics jobs oil and gas companies expect to create. Companies in the US will create 280 new analytics scientist jobs, representing 46 percent of the 600 new scientist jobs in the oil and gas industry in these seven countries. In comparison, companies will need to fill 130 new analytics scientist jobs in China and 100 in Brazil. In 2015, there will be as many as 4,600 analytics scientist jobs across the seven countries we studied. (See Figure 4.)

We see similar trends in new demand for analytics experts and specialists. Of the 1,900 new analytics expert jobs and 9,400 new analytics specialist jobs oil and gas companies will create across the seven countries, just under half will be located in the US. (See Figures 5 and 6.)

Figure 4: Analytics scientist jobs in oil and gas, 2010-2015

US China Brazil

Anal

ytic

s sc

ient

ists

UK India Japan Singapore




Nearly half of the new analytics scientist jobs will be created in the US.

2,000

1,600

1,200

800

400

0



Figure 5: Analytics expert jobs in oil and gas, 2010-2015

US China Brazil

Anal

ytic

s ex

pert

s

UK India Japan Singapore

CAGR 4.0% 3.4% 3.6% 2.4% 2.9% 0.6% 1.8% 2010-2015




Oil and gas companies will add 1,900 new analytics expert jobs, to reach a total of 13,000 positions.

Figure 6: Analytics specialist jobs in oil and gas, 2010-2015

Eighty percent of new analytics specialist jobs—7,500 jobs—will be created in the US, China and Brazil.

US China Brazil

Anal

ytic

s sp

ecia

lists

India UK Japan Singapore

CAGR 3.9% 3.5% 3.6% 2.9% 2.4% 0.7% 2.0% 2010-2015




6,000

5,000

4,000

3,000

2,000

1,000

0

25,000

20,000

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5,000

0



The looming mismatch Geologists, mathematicians, financial analysts, petroleum engineers, and other analytics scientists, experts and specialists are critical for fueling growth in the oil and gas industry. Hence, companies need to be able to attract the talent they need where they need them. But just when oil

and gas companies everywhere will need to ramp up their analytics capabilities, many will be hard pressed to find enough people who have the skills required.

In our larger research study, we analyzed job growth across all industries in each of the seven countries and found that a critical mismatch between supply and demand is looming.5 In many countries, analytics talent supplies will not keep pace with new job growth, and there simply

won’t be enough talent to go around. Industry efforts have led to increases in the number of degrees offered in petroleum engineering over the past decade, but these have hardly made a dent.6 We project that the US could encounter a sizeable shortfall of more than 260,000 analysts by 2015. In other countries however, a surplus of analytics skills—up to 175,000 analysts in India—is likely. (See Figure 7.)

Figure 7: Total shortages and surpluses of analytics talent by country, 2010-2015


250,000

200,000

150,000

100,000

50,000

0

-50,000

-100,000

-150,000

-200,000

-250,000

-300,000

US Brazil UK Japan Singapore China India

The shortfall of analysts in the US will exceed the surpluses expected in India and China combined.

Shortages of analytics talent

Surpluses of analytics talent

Data is for all types of analytics talent across all industries within each country



companies are known for. Companies must shake off certain negative perceptions of the industry. On top of all this, oil and gas companies are venturing into ever more challenging geographies to seek new reserves. This poses a particularly unique challenge because talent will have to be willing to work in remote locales.

Each company, and every industry, faces unique talent challenges in different markets. But one thing is clear: sourcing analytics talent will be tough everywhere. Demand is rising and supply is not keeping up—nor will it be able to keep up in the foreseeable future. In the complex oil and gas industry, developing a healthy pipeline of analytics talent is the new imperative. As employees retire in waves, companies will need creative approaches to secure the necessary analytics talent.

Just when oil and gas companies everywhere will need to ramp up their analytics capabilities, many will be hard pressed to find enough people who have the skills required.

Of course, a shortage of analytics talent to fill new analytics jobs is just one talent challenge confronting the oil and gas industry. Perhaps the biggest challenge is an aging workforce and the prolonged up-skilling required to replace retiring employees as technical demands intensify. The average age of the oil and gas industry workforce is 50 years old, and half of the industry’s professionals could retire in five to ten years. As this “big crew change” unfolds, companies will need to determine how to help seasoned professionals impart specialized knowledge to up-and-coming professionals to fill soon-to-be-vacated analytics jobs as well as newly created ones.7

Where sufficient supplies of analytics talent are likely—in India and China, for example—oil and gas companies may still find it difficult to secure the local talent with the specific skills they need. Employers may have additional skills requirements such as competency in particular languages or familiarity with the basics of business operations. Additionally, many graduates seek employers that have a reputation for social responsibility and a deep sense of purpose, including environmental consciousness—something few oil and gas



Closing the gapEmployers, educators and policymakers everywhere are confronting hard choices about how best to head off shortages of critical talent. These stakeholders can work together to increase the analytics talent supply pool in a few different ways:

Influence universities to add business analytics coursework to a wide variety of programs.Specialized business analytics degree and certificate programs are already popping up across the globe. However, by incorporating more statistics training within non-quantitative programs or business training within “traditional” science and engineering programs, either as common core requirements or full-fledged minors, universities will be able to generate many more graduates with the skills to do analytics work.

Seek reforms in educational curricula.Companies can increase the number of qualified graduates by lobbying governments to improve the quality of national education and training systems and increase the number of students taking math and science courses. Organizations can also work with educators to build stronger bridges from community colleges and vocational-technical programs to analytics career paths. For example, US colleges award 50,000 associate degrees each year in fields relevant to analytics.

Work to influence national policy on retaining non-nationals.More and more foreign nationals in highly quantitative fields are now returning home after completing their degrees, especially at the master’s and doctorate levels. Companies can lobby governments to create more work visas and other mechanisms to retain foreign-born math and science graduates.

While large institutional changes like these may remedy the mismatch in the long run, there are no quick fixes when it comes to closing the analytics talent gap. However, employers can do a great deal in the short term to increase their share of the supply pool or reduce how much analytics talent they will need. Based on our research, here are some practical steps organizations can take now:

Get the most out of the talent you already have.This starts with defining roles and allocating tasks in ways that better utilize analytics scientists’ highly advanced and specialized skills. Then, create development opportunities and stretch assignments for analytics experts. New visual software tools and advances in analytics technology allow tasks previously done by analytics scientists to be done by experts. Finally, find hidden talent across the organization: employees with strong quantitative skills who are not working in analytics roles. Provide them with training to prepare them to take on analytics specialist roles.

Raise awareness among students and university recruiters.Today, a small percentage of qualified graduates take analytics jobs; the rest take up other types of occupations, becoming, for example, investment bankers, consultants, software developers, professors or scientists. Too often, the choice is shaped by a lack of awareness of the opportunities in analytics. Employers can and should work with universities to make students aware of the bright career prospects in analytics.

Make sure analytics jobs are appealing to prospective recruits.First and foremost, analytics jobs must allow analysts to use their highly specialized skills.8 Employers need to define roles and allocate tasks in ways that ensure analysts can do challenging work that contributes directly to the organization’s goals—not just generate simple reports. Customized roles and career paths for analytics talent provide clearly defined objectives, reward

structures and growth opportunities. By developing distinct analytics career paths, rather than shoehorning analysts into the organization’s standard career models, companies can better attract and retain analytics talent.

Work with labor market intermediaries.Employers who must compete for talent in countries where there are shortages can work with labor market intermediaries to find and access the analytics talent they need. Intermediaries facilitate the match between “sellers” and “buyers” in the labor market. Some intermediaries will attempt to consolidate analytics talent (either through platforms such as Kaggle Inc. or networks such as yourEncore, Inc.) to create a single source for project-based access to skills. Still others (for example, StatsCareers.com, oDesk Corporation and Y-Axis Overseas Careers) will help connect employers with talent for long-term or project-based employment—a global spin on a traditional role for intermediaries.

Oil and gas companies should begin now to plot out their strategy for finding the talent they need to compete and win. Those that make that investment will achieve a competitive advantage over rivals who find their growth strategies frustrated by a dearth of analytics talent.



Notes1 “Downstream Energy Transformation: Achieving high

performance in a low-carbon economy,” Accenture, January 2012.

2 Elizabeth Craig, David Smith, Narendra P. Mulani and Robert J. Thomas, “Where will you find your analytics talent?,” Outlook, October 2012.

3 Medium Term Oil and Gas Markets, International Energy Agency, OECD/IEA, June 2011.

4 “Brazil: The world’s next economic superpower?” CBS 60 Minutes, July 31, 2011. http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-18560_162-20073776.html.

5 Elizabeth Craig, Robert J. Thomas, Charlene Hou and Smriti Mathur, “Crunch time: How to overcome the looming global analytics talent mismatch,” Accenture Institute for High Performance research report, forthcoming in November 2012.

6 Kristen Hays, “Petroleum engineers a hot commodity for energy firm,” Chicago Tribune, January 20, 2012.

7 Antoine Rostand and Oliver Soupa, “Benchmark survey reveals looming talent shortage,” Schlumberger Business Consulting, E&P, May 1, 2011. http://www.epmag.com/Magazine/2011/5/item81982.php.

8 Jeanne G. Harris, Elizabeth Craig and Henry Egan, “How successful organizations strategically manage their analytical talent”, Strategy & Leadership 38 no. 3 (2010), pp 15-22.

About the authors

Robert J. Thomas ([email protected]) is the executive director of the Accenture Institute for High Performance. He is the author or co-author of seven books on leadership and organizational change, including Crucibles of Leadership: How to Learn from Experience to Be a Great Leader(Harvard Business Press, 2007); The Talent Powered Organization (Kogan Page, 2007); and The Organizational Networks Fieldbook (Jossey-Bass, 2010). He holds a PhD from Northwestern University.

Charlene Hou ([email protected]) is a research analyst with the Accenture Institute for High Performance in Boston. She holds a B.A. in Economics from Wellesley College.

Elizabeth Craig ([email protected]) is a research fellow at the Accenture Institute for High Performance in Boston. She is the author, with Peter Cheese and Robert J. Thomas, of The Talent Powered Organization: Strategies for Globalization, Talent Management and High Performance (Kogan Page, 2007). Her work has also been published in the Wall Street Journal, Talent Management, Strategic HR Review, Journal of Business Strategy and elsewhere. She holds a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania.

James Arnott ([email protected]) is the Talent and Organization lead for Accenture’s resources operating group. He leads Accenture’s Plant and Automation Solutions and Capital Projects in Australia. He has worked on a variety of major world-class strategy, change management, information systems and financial, commercial, shared services and human resources consulting projects.

Julie Adams ([email protected]) is the Global Lead for Energy Research in Accenture. She has extensive experience in the global oil industry, having worked for both an international oil major and a strategy consultancy focusing on the oil and gas sector, prior to joining Accenture.

The authors would like to thank Chi Phamand Chris DeSimone for their contributions to this research report.

About the research

The Accenture Institute for High Performance undertook a yearlong project to gather and distill data on job creation and skills availability in the market for analytics talent. The research focused on six industries—banking, insurance, communications technology, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals and analytics services—and seven countries: the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Singapore, China, India and Brazil.

For the demand side, we focused solely on job openings created by economic and industrial growth and excluded replacement hiring. On the supply side, we focused on fresh talent coming out of universities with bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. degrees in math, statistics, operations research and other quantitative fields.

For more information, see our cross-industry report “Crunch time: How to overcome the looming global analytics talent mismatch.”

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with 257,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$27.9 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2012. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

About the Accenture Institute for High Performance

The Accenture Institute for High Performance creates strategic insights into key management issues and macroeconomic and political trends through original research and analysis. Its management researchers combine world-class reputations with Accenture’s extensive consulting, technology and outsourcing experience to conduct innovative research and analysis into how organizations become and remain high-performance businesses.

Copyright © 2012 Accenture All rights reserved.

Accenture, its logo, and High Performance Delivered are trademarks of Accenture.

This document makes descriptive reference to trademarks that may be owned by others. The use of such trademarks herein is not an assertion of ownership of such trademarks by Accenture and is not intended to represent or imply the existence of an association between Accenture and the lawful owners of such trademarks.

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