LubesnGreases periodically looks into workplace trends in the lubricants industry in an attempt to gauge where employees stand in their industry, and vice versa. This year, LubesnGreases and ABN Resource Ltd., an industry recruitment company from the United Kingdom, emailed its workplace trends survey to 9,000 industry employees around the world. The survey asked questions regarding their role, length of service and thoughts about the industrys future, among other things. Adetiq, a U.K.-based data processing firm, compiled responses to the survey.

Here, we look at the responses from 121 anonymous participants working in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. All participants are in non-manager, manager, director or C-suite roles.

One of the most notable trends was respondents experience level. For example, more than 50 percent of them have been working in the lubricants industry for 16 years or longer, while only 14 percent of participants indicated having been in the industry for five years or less. This could be interpreted as the lubricant industrys workforce is aging, and the concentration of new employees coming on board does not seem to be keeping pace.

In fact, when asked if they planned on staying at their current job for two years or longer, more than 30 percent of participants indicated that they do not. Of those who plan on leaving their current job within two years, 54 percent have been working in the industry for 20 years or longer. This may indicate that these employees may retire soon, leaving a sizable gap in the remaining workforce.

Furthermore, the survey asked what participants deemed the biggest disruptors to the industry. Forty-seven percent explicitly said that the aging workforce was a significant concern. This is likely related to a looming skills shortage. Lubricant veterans possess a wealth of knowledge that is not always effectively passed down to the next generation. In fact, 46 percent of senior employees expressed a need for more mentoring opportunities. They are enthusiastic about passing down their knowledge but seem to lack the opportunities to do so. And they are not alone in feeling that way. Sixty-four percent of industry newcomers said that mentorship opportunities need to increase if the industry intends to stay relevant.

Is the industry slowly diminishing as a career prospect for young science and engineering graduates or is the workforce just getting older? Right now, the answer is in the balance. The survey asked what the most frustrating aspect of working in the industry is, and nearly 54 percent of respondents indicated that their biggest qualm is that it is slow to adapt to change, especially in regard to the aging workforce. Current employees would like the industry take a more proactive role in upskilling (teaching additional skills) inexperienced employees to help battle this lethargy.

On the other hand, when asked how confident they were in the future success of the lubricants industry, 61 percent of respondents indicated high confidence. So while the industry seems to be aging quickly and changing slowly, the current workforce seems fairly certain that the industry will eventually find ways to overcome this These findings and deeper analysis will be presented in the upcoming 2020 Workplace Trends Report. Visit www.LubesnGreases.com/workplace-trends for more details.