There is a severe shortage of talent in the oil and chemical industries

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Source: China Chemical Industry News. The petrochemical education sector: Lifelong education needs to be vigorously developed. According to Sinochem News, “When traditional production and business models undergo significant changes, the adaptability of education is clearly insufficient. On the one hand, there is strong enthusiasm for school-enterprise cooperation and integration of industry and education; on the other hand, there is a shortage in the supply of skilled talents.” ”At the 2018 working conference of the National Petroleum and Chemical Vocational Education and Teaching Guidance Committee (hereinafter referred to as the Petrochemical Industry Guidance Committee), held in Zhuhai last week, Ren Yaosheng, vice president of the China Chemical Engineering Education Association and director of the Petrochemical Industry Guidance Committee, succinctly outlined the current state of talent development in the industry. More than 300 participants discussed and suggested that vocational education in the chemical industry should take proactive actions, conduct thorough research on the industry’s talent needs, and establish a lifelong education system for the industry in order to adapt to the new trends in its transformation and development. 　　Ren Yaosheng explained that over the 40 years since the reform and opening up, vocational education in the chemical industry has developed rapidly; the number of students enrolled rose from 4,000 in 1978 to over 400,000 in higher vocational, secondary vocational, and technical schools by 2018, representing a growth of roughly 100 times. However, starting in 2008, the number of admissions has been declining year by year. The decline was particularly severe in 2014, 2015, and 2016, with some schools seeing a drop of 30% to 50%, or even 70%. Admissions for undergraduate programs also declined at a double-digit rate each year. 　　Ren Yaosheng said that currently, in the chemical industry, it is common to see a shortage of talent supply, an exhaustion of available talent pools, and a demand that exceeds the supply of graduates; in some cases, talents still in school are being reserved two or three years in advance. Currently, vocational schools across the country produce less than 100,000 graduates for the chemical industry each year. There are nearly 30,000 enterprises in the petrochemical industry that fall within the designated size category, and on average each of these enterprises can only recruit 3 graduates. If we include the 240,000 small and medium-sized enterprises as well, then on average only 3 enterprises can share 1 graduate, which is far from sufficient to meet the demand. Our country is moving from a major petrochemical producer to a strong petrochemical power, yet the shortage of talent is becoming increasingly prominent. 　　“Our past extraordinary development was driven by the industry’s urgent need for talent; it was a reactive approach rather than proactive reform to adapt to new circumstances. ”Ren Yaosheng pointed out that educational reform lags behind industrial and commercial reforms. In the future, the field of chemical engineering education must take proactive actions to meet the needs of the industry and the times, promote continuing and lifelong education, and strengthen research on industry talent. 　　Speaking of the School of Petroleum and Chemical Engineering at the Open University, which was established at the end of last year, Ren Yaosheng said, “The School of Petroleum and Chemical Engineering at the Open University is not merely a newly founded institution; it serves as an important tool for establishing a lifelong education system in the petroleum and chemical industry.” ”It is reported that the academy will establish learning centers across the country; these centers will be set up jointly by educational institutions and enterprises, with a dual-governance model in place. 　　Yu Hongjun, vice president of the China Chemical Engineering Education Association, said that the School of Petroleum and Chemical Engineering at the Open University of China will establish an industry-wide lifelong education system that covers the entire petroleum and chemical industry chain, integrating educational programs at various levels with employee training, in order to meet the lifelong learning and career development needs of workers across this industry chain. 　　Wang Guochuan, the executive deputy director of the Office of the Education Ministry’s Industry Guidance Committee, suggested that the Petrochemical Industry Guidance Committee should mobilize resources to study the key and difficult issues arising in the reform and development of vocational education, thereby providing valuable references for relevant industry departments. For example, in response to the issue of superficial integration between industry and education, what kind of policy environment should be created and what measures should be taken to improve the situation. He mentioned that the next step for the chemical engineering education community is to improve the School of Petroleum and Chemical Engineering at the Open University, in order to meet the growing demand for talent in this industry.