Shipyard pay, competing employers, and workforce retention

Oil, drilling, and pipeline employers are identified as competitors for skilled welders and metalworkers. A yard trying to keep contract costs low still needs a credible employment offer to attract those workers. Regular shifts and the ability to live at home are presented as advantages against travelling industrial work. Those benefits must be weighed alongside pay. The procurement question is whether the builder can actually staff the promised programme before a large order is placed. Clarke expresses the opinion that knowingly false staffing assurances on a government contract should bring criminal consequences. He does not identify a company as having made such a false assurance.