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To support the expected business growth in the Asia Pacific and Australian engineering and project management markets, TRS Staffing Solutions is set to enter Australia with a full recruitment offering on 1 September 2010 operating from Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth.

TRS Staffing Solutions has been matching people and projects for more than 20 years. The TRS Australian business is part of the worldwide TRS Staffing Solutions Group which has representative offices in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, The Netherlands, Puerto Rico, the United States, Canada, South Africa and the Middle East.

TRS Staffing Solutions was established in 1982 to supply staff to a leading United States EPCM contractor for its own international projects.

Since then we have extended our network of clients and candidates and we are now actively supporting project sites across Australia, the United Kingdom, mainland Europe, the United States, the Middle East, Canada and South East Asia. TRS currently has more than 4,500 contractors around the world and we manage over 270 agency suppliers around the world.

The TRS Australia business will be established to provide a further platform to help TRS source and supply skilled personnel to clients both in Australia, Asia Pacific and internationally, providing direct access to a global pool of experienced technical, engineering and professional services talent.

We have skilled and experienced teams of recruiting professionals that enable us to align our recruiting processes and global databases to meet our clients’ corporate visions.

The TRS Australia business will provide the following services for clients in this region:
- Contract placement
- Direct-hire recruitment
- Managed agency
- Search and selection

Author: Jayson Eichstadt, TRS

For months, most recruitment companies have been convincing their consultants and candidates that the engineering recruitment market is improving with stories of approved projects and future investment, but little has been seen on the job boards. Until now…

Generally when a market starts improving, and a cost efficient company wishes to take advantage of this, the first positions recruited for are Sales / Business Development Managers, followed by General Managers for the regional and project offices that follow.

In the last 3 weeks, we have received more requests for talented engineers with BD / Sales Experience than I believe TRS has received in the last 2 years.

What type of candidate makes a good Sales Manager?

The first mistake people make is thinking that ‘Sales is Sales’ and not engineering… Wrong!

Operators want to be able to discuss technical issues and often base their solutions around best technical fit, not just best price. Often the best Sales Managers come from Project Management and Project Lead backgrounds, because at the end of the day, the most important task for the Sales Manager is to understand the customer’s needs and to be able to communicate them to the engineering teams.

Another misconception is that Engineers cannot communicate or sell effectively. Wrong again! Engineers enjoy going on site, dealing with the operator, suppliers, sub-contractors and so on. Indeed a large percentage have worked as independent contractors, been self employed or worked for small consultancies, and have had to sell their expertise and understanding at every interview and meeting they have been to. Engineers on the whole are excellent sales people as they understand their product or service and are selling to someone who wants to hear about it (gauging your friends reaction to you explaining the joys of cement down the pub whilst watching Liverpool V Real Madrid as an indicator of whether you are a good sales person is probably not recommended - chances are they are not interested).

Also, most engineers will have been to university and have had an assortment of jobs. For example, one individual we recently placed had been a magician, double glazing salesman, security guard and so on. This gave them the ability to communicate and understand a wide variety of peoples’ needs. Again, this is key to being able to sell.

So what happens to the Sales Manager next? The typical direction for a Sales Manager would be to establish a territory, for example Brazil. You would then create a client base in Brazil, and before you know it, you are the General Manager of the Brazil Office. It may often be difficult to see a progression from Piping or Process to being General Manager, but the easy route is through Sales.

TRS currently have roles including Renewable Energy in Argentina, Brasil, Mexico, Bulgaria and Romaina. Also, Water in Egypt and Cabling in Italy, Spain, Mexico, Argentina and Brazil. To see a selection of TRS Staffing Solutions current job vacancies, click here.

For more information about TRS’ engineering recruitment service in the UK, email: info-uk@trsstaffing.com

Author: John Rowlands, TRS

In April I was fortunate enough to be able to attend LNG 16 in Oran. LNG conferences are known to be the who’s who of the gas industry and as part of my market focus I was very excited to be going.

As you can imagine, my first concern was the eruption of a volcano in Iceland the day before my travel. I am lucky enough to live in Madrid, and so took a quick jump to Alicante and a flight from Alicante direct to Oran. I arrived two hours late, giving me time to savour the olives available in the lounge!

From touch-down in Oran airport the whole event was fantastically organised. We were shuttled to a separate terminal to be rushed through immigration, before a group of pleasant hosts and hostesses guided us to our transport. Mine took me to the bank to help me change my Euros into local currency, then escorted me to my hotel bus. I tried to tip but she refused. I sat on the bus until the rest of my hotel contingent joined (we were about 6 people) - then our police escort joined us! We were guided by 4 police motorbikes to our hotel.

My journey was a breeze compared to other people - one senior manager from a well known EPC flew from Houston to Japan to Dubai to Senegal to Algiers to Oran - he was obviously keen to attend!

The conference in general had a 25% turn out which I found helpful - most of my Northern European and US based competition couldn’t attend, leaving senior management (basically those who have no problems changing flights) unharrased and with time to talk. I managed to achieve more business than usual.

Oran itself turned out to be a surprise – I felt welcomed and at home. I was invited out for diner by some locals who just wanted to dispel Oran’s unfair international reputation. I went night clubbing and saw the sights. I managed to attend two tours, one of the city and castle led by a guide called Souad (organised by LNG16). We enjoyed another police escort (so avoided traffic jams) and spent about 2 and a half hours visiting and learning about the historic sights. My second tour was organised by Fatima who was working on the Repsol stand. She guided me around town and the shopping sights in a one-to-one tour, for which I am extremely grateful, enabling me to buy presents for my family. Again, no one would accept tips. The guides just wanted to show people Oran, it’s history and it’s people.

So, would I go there again? I am planning on it. Is there work there? Yes. There are many major companies with operations in Algeria, including GDF, Repsol, BG and many more of TRS’s clients.

For more information, visit the TRS website at http://www.trsstaffing.com/ or contact us!

Author: John Rowlands, TRS

TRS Staffing Solutions are attending LNG 16. TRS have a long standing history with the LNG / GNL Conferences.

Maria Macein (Country Manager Spain) said “LNG 16 is probably the who’s who of the liquid natural gas market place. TRS have to be present to keep up with the technologies in place and also to maintain contact with a number of its clients. Due to our locality and the ever increasing business links between Algeria and Spain, LNG 16 will be particularly important for us”.

Further information about LNG 16 can be found at:

http://lng16.org/index.html

Virginia Ortun, Consultant at TRS Spain commented “Algeria is one of the up anc coming markets. Not only for Gas, but also for renewable Energy and Water. Indeed we are currently looking for experienced Construction Managers for 3 locations in Algeria to work on desalination and water storage facilities. Water is a fundamental resource in any industrial process and as such is becoming a more and more important skill set in the engineering recruitment market.”

For more information on our Algeria based construction management roles contact Virginia.

To meet with a TRS representative in LNG 16 (Oran) contact John Rowlands.

A recent report from the Industry Taskforce on Peak Oil and Energy Security states that there is not much chance of finding any significant quantity of new cheap oil. Any new or unconventional oil is going to be expensive.

Basically this report clearly states that in as little as five years, despite the economic downturn, we will have reached Peak Oil Output. That means, despite ever-improving technology and the large oil reserves recently discovered, the total output of oil will drop worldwide.

Alternative oil sources (Coal / Sands / Deep Water and so on) will become increasingly expensive to extract, forcing oil prices even higher.

The one dominant conclusion from these findings is that our ever-growing energy requirements will need to be satisfied by other sources. From renewable energy, through to nuclear and gas, we are going to see a rapid growth in investment in all non-oil sectors and a steady and inevitable increase in the price of energy. As energy prices increase, and our global energy consumption fails to reduce, future investment will drive both technology and production processes, so there will be a growing need for engineers from all energy sectors and across a variety of engineering disciplines.

TRS Staffing Solutions work very closely with a number of companies active in a wide range of energy sectors, including those previously mentioned. To see a selection of TRS Staffing Solutions current job vacancies, click here.

For more information about TRS’ engineering recruitment service in the UK, email: info-uk@trsstaffing.com

Author: John Rowlands, TRS

The ambitious DART underground rail line in Dublin moved closer to reality this week as Irish Rail issued a formal notice asking for submissions from firms interested in designing, building, and eventually operating the new €2.5bn rail system. The Dart Underground rail line will be the single most important piece of infrastructure in Ireland and is a central part of the Government’s Transport 21 ten year transport investment plan. We also understand that a planning application will be logged next month for the proposed public-private partnership project.

With work scheduled to begin in 2011, and completion due in 2016, it is estimated that more than 7,000 construction jobs will be created by DART. There are also many new ancillary jobs anticipated in related areas including supply, utilities, operations, specialist engineering and logistics.

The new twin underground tunnels will send DART trains from Docklands to Inchicore, and will have a total length of 7.6km. The current DART north-south coastal route would be split in two in the city centre, and the new system aims to link all the rail systems - DART, Commuter, Intercity, Luas and Metro – together to form an integrated and coordinated network.

DART will be the final phase in completing the planned increase in the Greater Dublin area’s rail service capacity, from the current level of 33 million passenger each year to 100 million passenger journeys.

TRS Staffing understand that two of the front-runners for the construction element of the project have strong Spanish links, and as TRS Staffing operates offices in London, Dublin, and Spain, we are perfectly positioned to work with the DART management in sourcing the skilled engineers and technicians needed for the design and construction phases of the project.

This project is funded by the Irish Government under the Transport 21 investment programme, and it is also part-funded by the European Commission. Elements of this project will be undertaken as a Public Private Partnership (PPP).

For more information about TRS’ engineering recruitment service in Ireland, email: info-ie@trsstaffing.com

Author: Natasha Dowd, TRS Ireland

TRS Staffing Solutions UK office has been awarded ISO 9001:2008 Certification for the provision of engineering and technical personnel on temporary and direct hire to a range of industries including rail and infrastructure, energy and chemicals, and power.

TRS focused on adjusting it’s quality policy manual to be in line with both Fluor’s Operating System Requirements (OSR) and the ISO requirements. Supporting practices were developed and will continue to be updated and improved to allow TRS to demonstrate consistency in the execution of their work, wherever they do business in their 13 office locations around the world. TRS President Taco de Haan believes that this provides TRS offices with a solid foundation to further enhance their management system and ensure that continual improvement is at the heart of the TRS client satisfaction culture. It will also allow TRS to have an even stronger value proposition towards their growing external client base.

“The establishment of an ISO certified TRS quality management system allows us to emphasize and enhance service delivery to our clients and candidates,” said de Haan. “Furthermore, TRS offices can now pursue service excellence recognition by benchmarking their policies and practices to international standards of quality recognition such as ISO 9001.”

In June 2009, under the management of Mike Innes, the UK office launched the ISO initiative. The objective was to enhance the competitive position of TRS among commercial competitors and realize the effectiveness of their recruitment practices.

“Our vision has always been the delivery of excellence in all that we do for, not only our clients and temporary staff, but our candidates and vendors alike. We want to use this ISO certification to help demonstrate to our current and future clients that TRS delivers quality and value at the highest professional level,” said Martin Foulser, Director of Operations. “This award is the result of a lot of hard work and dedication by everyone involved.”

For more information about TRS’ engineering recruitment service in the UK, email: info-uk@trsstaffing.com

Author: John Rowlands, TRS

TRS Staffing have confirmed their attendance at the UK’s largest online recruitment conference, “2010: The Year Ahead” in London on the 28th January.

The conference will consider the issues facing all parties in the online recruitment space in 2010, including the use of job boards, search engines and social media. TRS Staffing have been quick to engage with quality candidates online and have a continually evolving strategy for sourcing top talent.

John Rowlands, TRS Spain commented:

“We have been attending ‘The Year Ahead’ conferences for a number of years. Each year we gain insight that we use to continually improve the service we are able to offer clients, by sourcing top quality candidates using new and emerging online channels. Over 1 in 7 online jobseekers exclusively use the internet to search for jobs* and we expect this figure to continue to rise – highlighting the importance of a strong online presence.”

The conference takes place in central London on the 28th January. Over 300 delegates are confirmed so far – there are limited places still available from the Enhance Media conference website.

*NORAS 2009

Since the early 1980’s the price of physical oil has been effectively set by one of the two leading global benchmarks - Europe’s Brent, and US-based West Texas Intermediate (WTI). On a daily basis these are used to price 75% of the world’s physical oil.

Brent has come to dominate the European and African markets, and is the yardstick for pricing about half of the world’s physical oil flows, while a quarter is priced against WTI, which effectively rules pricing in the Americas. Dubai-Oman serves as the pricing point for the rest of the marketplace, especially Asia.

The unusual factor here is that while Brent and WTI dominate pricing, they represent a mere fraction of the hundreds of different crudes that are actually traded worldwide. According to the traders’ bible, Petroleum Intelligence Weekly’s International Crude Oil Market Handbook, there are almost 200 different crudes, from Kutubu of Papua New Guinea to Caño Limón of Colombia.

So the market was surprised last week when Saudi Arabia announced its decsion to drop WTI as the mechanism for pricing US-bound exports, and instead use the Argus Sour Crude Index (Asci). Asci is an index that tracks the price of oil extracted in the US Gulf of Mexico and could potentially signal the end of the established staus quo for physical oil pricing.

The Saudi decision reflects several concerns about WTI, chiefy that it is based on oil delivered in Cushing, Oklahoma, the inland oil storage hub that is actually hundreds of miles from the main oil ports along the US Gulf Coast. Early in 2009, when the Cushing tanks held record supplies, the WTI price became disconnected from oil prices, which made pricing higly problematc not only for the Saudis but also many other global producers.

Another factor behind Asci’s appeal is that US and European refiners favour “sour” crude oil that is the main constitutent of the Asci basket, whereas both WTI and Brent represent “sweet” (lower in sulphur) and “light” (less dense) crude. US refiners have been investing heavily in equipment to turn higher-sulphur oils into acceptable fuels, mirrored by a shift towards heavier crude imports. This contributed to 75 per cent of US oil imports last year, up from 60 per cent in 1985.

With the backing of both the Saudis and the US refineries, some commentators beleve that Asci has a good chance of becoming the future benchmark, unseating the long-held dominance of Brent and WTI especially. Previous attempts to do this in the past have invariably failed because of the absence of these influential backers.

Some feel that the Saudi move will prompt a shift to Asci by other exporters such as Brazil, Canada, and Venezuela. Paul Horsnell, head of commodities research at Barclays Capital in London, says that the emergence of Asci derivatives will be critical. “However, establishing futures contracts based on delivered US Gulf sours has proved very problematic,” he is quoted on ft.com.

WTI’s big advantage is its liquidity, with traders and speculators using it to insure against or bet on the direction of prices. But if the physical traders move away from WTI what knock-on effect will this have on the financial sector?

Nonetheless, as the article on ft.com asserts, liquidity tends to beget liquidity in markets, so for the immediate future at least it is likely WTI and Brent will both retain their benchmark status.

This is an abridged version of an article that origanally appeared on www.ft.com November 3rd, 2009, and is reproduced here by their kind permission. To view the original article please click here.

Two recent announcements emphasise the positive future prospects for the renewable energy sector, while mixed news from the US shows that the current recession is having a significant effect on their renewable marketplace.

Last week the Australian government announced their commitment to supporting renewable energy by allocating funds of $AUS245 million to the Renewable Energy Demonstration Program. The aim of the Program is to progress the commercialisation of new renewable energy technologies in Australia, including geothermal sources and wave technology, together with a new mini-grid project employing wind, solar, bio-diesel and energy storage technologies.

Meanwhile in Europe, The European Investment Bank (EIB) partnered by three commercial bank announced they will be offering loans to eligible onshore wind power farms in the United Kingdom. This initiative has received support from both the UK Treasury and the Department of Energy and Climate Change, and could result in the construction of new onshore wind energy projects worth at least $2.33 billion (£1.4 billion) over the next three years.

The Greater Gabbard Wind project is proceeding forward at full steam (or under full sail). This project was developed by Greater Gabbard Offshore Winds Limited (GGOWL), originally a joint venture between Airtricity and Fluor. Scottish and Southern Energy subsequently acquired Airtricity and then bought out Fluor’s stake, and Fluor are now contracted to design, supply, install and commission the balance of the plant. (In November 2008 Scottish and Southern sold a 50% stake to RWE, owners of Npower (UK) for £308m.) In October 2009 Seajacks Ltd delivered its 7,000 tonne Leviathan vessel to Fluor Ltd, and it will sail to Harwich to prepare the hook-up and commissioning of an in-field substation and then the actual installation of the turbines. TRS Staffing, as the recruitment subsidiary of Fluor, are responsible for all the resourcing of the Greater Gabbard project , working out of our UK and Dutch offices. TRS are also actively working with Abengoa Group Spain, Mexico, Angola and the Middle East.

In contrast to these projects, the US has apparently been feeling some direct consequences of the economic slowdown, with a drop in demand for solar panels, resulting in stockpiling and a price drop of about 30%. With panel manufactures unable to match this revenue slump with any significant cost-savings, the sector is undoubtedly enduring some hardship.

So what does the future really hold for recruitment in renewable energy? In my view Europe and the Middle East will pave the way. Projects such as Nasdar in the UAE, combined with the availability of European grants, will result in greater economies of scale, and a general rationalisation across the industry. Companies will need to increase their commitment and investment, and essentially transform themselves into primary renewable energy businesses. This is illustrated by the success of companies such as Abengoa, and of course the demise of BP Solar and GE (Solar Manufacturing).
I do want to avoid oversimplifying the market, however, and am keen to hear your views on how the renewable energy market will evolve in the near future.

For more information, visit the TRS website at http://www.trsstaffing.com/ or contact us!

Author: John Rowlands, TRS

TRS Staffing Solutions Inc. celebrates its 25th anniversary this week. TRS began in Greenville, S.C., as DanPro in 1984 and was created to address the contract engineering needs of the Daniel International Corp. In the following 25 years, TRS has grown into a global player within the engineering staffing industry, supporting clients worldwide.

“I believe this is just the first of many milestones TRS will achieve, and we are anticipating a bright future as markets grow and opportunities emerge,” said Alan White, TRS president. “I want to thank all of the employees who have helped make TRS the leading technical staffing provider that it is today.”

TRS supplies high-quality talent to projects of every size and complexity, bringing engineers, designers, project managers and other technical, professional and administrative staff to Fluor and other leading industrial specialists around the world. Working across the entire life cycle of projects, TRS supports the five major business units of Fluor.

“Over the last 25 years, TRS has grown from a single office in Greenville to a network of 14 offices that spans the globe and has developed the ability to supply any project Fluor is engaged in,” White said.

TRS currently serves clients in North America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. In addition, a number of associate partnerships extend its global reach across the Far East, Australia and South America. An established presence in the Middle East gives TRS direct access to emerging talent markets in India, Philippines and the Pacific Rim.

For more information, visit the TRS website at http://www.trsstaffing.com/ or contact us!

Author: Martin Foulser, TRS

With the minerals and mining markets grinding to a halt in Australia and the coal seam gas market about to explode, what will be the key factors influencing contact rates over the next few years?

The Queensland engineering market is split into two areas. The Minerals and Mining market is static and expected to remain so in the near future. Indeed a drop in hourly rates is expected due to market pressures.

The most important market at the moment is the Coal Seam Gas market. New technologies have made Coal Seam gas far more attractive and there are currently 11 new LNG extraction and liquefaction projects on the table. It is doubtful whether all will appear in the short term, but I believe we can expect a consolidation of trains between major operators and would therefore see go-ahead for 4 to 6 plants.

Current contract rates are unpredictable and pulled in many directions. The key drivers are:

1. The General Market is pushing rates down.
2. Operators are driving a rate cap.
3. Greater usage of non-expat overseas workers (Asia etc).
4. Overseas rates from Asia are increasing due to greater dependence in the Middle East
5. The gas market has not been hit as hard as the oil market.
6. The recession has created a greater mobility of the work force, so Australia (once a fairly local and remote market) is now comparable to the global hourly rate.

So do rates go up or down? In summary, in the near future we do not expect any rate changes. From Q2 2010 people are talking about an increase of anywhere between 8% and 15% over a 4 quarter period.

Fortunately TRS has recently won a 1st tier PSL agreement with a major gas international with heavy investment in the Queensland area. You can see some of the exciting engineering opportunities or alternatively please comment and leave your thoughts below…

Author: John Rowlands, TRS

October the 20th is the 5th anniversary of TRS Staffing Spain. From humble beginnings (a borrowed office with one employee), TRS Spain now has over 200 employees working on projects as diverse as Spain’s largest project for 50 years in Cartagena involving 3.2bn € of spend, to plant construction in Angola.

TRS Spain would like to thank all its employees, suppliers and clients for their continuing support.

Author: John Rowlands, TRS

Although staffing firms continue to be challenged by high levels of non-permanent employee cuts and low levels of temporary staffing, are we seeing the first signs of a ‘bottoming-out’ and the return to higher levels of employment?

A recent U.S. Department of Labor release in June noted temporary jobs were down 26.9% year-over-year in May; however, that figure was up slightly from the 27.7% year-over-year dip recorded in April.

Most construction industry analysts agree that staffing will remain low throughout 2009, but increase in 2010 in step with a slow construction market turnaround.

Despite extremely high levels of unemployment across the construction industry, there continues to be pockets of skills shortages in some construction and maintenance job categories such as experienced project managers.

ENR’s Skilled Labor Index has maintained upward movement throughout the first six months of the year, as has its Common Labor Index, although both at a slower rate than last year.

TRS have maintained strong links with employers and continue to offer a number of worldwide opportunities in the construction sector – Browse our current engineering vacancies.

Author: Hillary Dayton, Fluor

Many Spanish engineering companies are reporting record growth based on overseas projects. TRS Spain are supporting the activities of Spanish companies in countries such as Angola, Holland, Ireland, Poland, Romania, Saudi Arabia and the UAE by providing top quality engineering professionals.

This might come as a surprise - the Spanish economy is at its lowest level for many years. Unemployment is currently 17%, GDP is down 4.1% on last year and consumer confidence is at an all time low. When you combine this with the lack of engineering projects on the mainland, you might question the prospects of Spanish engineering firms…

This growth is partly due to the high quality of engineering, allowing the FEED stages to be carried out in Madrid. Combined with new levels of mobility within the workforce this is giving Spanish engineering companies a competitive edge.

Click here for more information on our engineering vacancies.

Author: John Rowlands, TRS

The Monster Employment Index UK dipped in August, with the engineering sector experiencing a greater than average slump in demand.

However, demand for quality candidates at TRS Staffing is strong, with a wide range of immediate worldwide vacancies for engineering professionals.

In particular Chartered Design Engineers of all disciplines are in great demand due to the rail and infrastructure projects within London.

If you’re an engineering professional looking for a new role, check out our current engineering vacancies.

TRS Staffing Solutions have over 25 years of experience as an engineering recruitment company supplying designers, project managers, engineers as well as many other professional and technical personnel to a huge variety of industries around the world.

With 17 recruitment offices around the world, we feel that our specialist local knowledge and experience of the engineering recruiters market makes us ideal to find the right person for the right role.

We offer a superb resourcing service to both employers and candidates. If you are looking for details on how we work and how we can help you wherever you may be based, please check out the country list to the right.

So what sets TRS Staffing apart from other engineering recruitment specialists? Our primary goal is to make sure that the job that we find for you is exactly the one that you are after.

The clients that we work with are well known market leaders in their specialist industries. On top of that we have access to a worldwide network of recruitment contacts that have been built up over the last 25 years. We always have hundreds of quality Engineering Job Vacancies available over a large variety of sectors and markets, meaning that we can find you a new job however niche your chosen career path may be!

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