Expat vs local

THE EDITOR: A certain oil company has hired an expat over locals. Why is that, brothers and sisters?

Simple: expats have many advantages over locals.

How many of the critical adults in TT are competent in the oil industry? How many local oil experts are out there?

There are those who will disagree just because they have that option. If you say oil is a hydrocarbon, they will say no way.

Not how your mouth works, things work also. Learn people, learn.

The advantages of expats over locals include but are not limited to:

They have international experience.

In TT we have a limited talent pool.

Expats have better attention to detail.

They are important when expanding globally.

Expat employees maintain consistency.

A company wants cultural diversity among their employees; it will come in handy when expansion to other countries occurs.

The advantages of expat leadership far outweigh the cost of their service. To the incoming expat, I wish you well, sir.

You need to hit the ground running fast, since oil is our life. Do not spill it!

What kills competent local leaders in TT's oil industry? Politics, plain, simple and straightforward.

A word of caution to the new expat CEO: be safe, be productive.

The oil age will end long before the world runs out of oil. I kid you not. This is not a drill.

AV RAMPERSAD

Princes Town