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Do you bring on a few more guys or go in the field yourself to pick up a shift?

Oxbow – Oxbow-based service rig company Mayco Well Servicing is experiencing the same trend most of their compatriots are – they could use a few more hands, but not necessarily at all times. “That’s exactly it.
Mayco Well Servicing derrick
Mayco Well Servicing has times where they could use a few more hands, but then slower times where there are too many sitting.

Oxbow – Oxbow-based service rig company Mayco Well Servicing is experiencing the same trend most of their compatriots are – they could use a few more hands, but not necessarily at all times.

“That’s exactly it. There’s stretches where we’re running short four to five guys, and then you’ll go two or three weeks where you have too many guys around,” said Nick Mayer, one of the partners in the outfit. And that can be something of a conundrum.

“I find it hard to hire guys, because I can’t say with conviction I can keep them busy over a period of time. There’s not a lot of local help around, so we’re often bringing guys from Nova Scotia. It’s hard to bring a guy in, with the circumstances.

“The rain had played a role, but it’s the uncertainty. There’s just not a lot going on where companies are picking up a rig for a period of time, and then they’re letting a rig go. It’s hard to bring a guy in from across the country to work for three weeks, then you’re carrying them for a period of time to fill that void.

“We’re running six rigs right now. We were up to seven at one time,” he said. Their fleet is made up of seven rigs. He added it’s actually closer to five-and-a-half rigs working.

As other service rig companies have noted, there’s a limit to how many green hands you can bring on before you start diluting your skill pool. Mayer said, “Typically, we try not to have more than one green guy on a rig. With five rigs running, you don’t want to bring any more than that in, at once, that’s for sure.

“There’s a level of comfort after six months. I wouldn’t say it’s experienced after that point, but you can start to feel comfortable after six months, for sure.”

“When it slowed down in 2014, we had an abundance of guys when we decided to concede and park a rig. As time has gone on, probably over the last three years, it’s been a bit more of a battle.”

Mayer was the first to specifically mention bringing in people from Eastern Canada, but it’s actually been longstanding practice for them. “We’ve been doing it for probably 15 years,” he said. “Nova Scotia has probably been the best for us, some Newfoundland fellows.

“Typically, you’ll get a guy or two from out there and they help recruit guys for you. It’s typically word of mouth,” he said. They use job websites as well.

They’ve helped people move to Saskatchewan, to a degree, but “It’s tough right now,” he said.

Mayer would say the Saskatchewan labour pool is pretty much tapped out.

“In the last two years, of all the guys we’ve hired… I would say we’re only about half have been from Saskatchewan.”

Their staff includes 30 rig hands and four in the office. Most live between Alameda, Oxbow and Carnduff. Their operating area is from Stoughton to Pierson, Manitoba

As needed, Mayer, his business partner Todd Cooley, and their field supervisor fill in on occasion as needed. “For our situation, at Mayco, it’s the uncertainty to hire guys.”

“We’re running as few guys as we can and we’re trying to pick up that slack, ourselves, until we can reach that level of comfort to bring people in.”