Ready to go! The next generation of mobile highly skilled workforce in the Russian petroleum industry

This article provides insights into the motivation of future highly skilled workers to become long-distance commuters (LDC) (i.e. fly-in/fly-out [FIFO]/drive-in/drive-out [DIDO]) to remote Arctic and Subarctic petroleum extraction sites. The study draws on a sample of students from long-distance commuter families, who study at the Ufa State Petroleum Technical University (UGNTU) in the Republic of Bashkortostan: a primary LDC sending region in Russia. The study is based on ethnographic qualitative and quantitative research. It shows that LDC shift work is seen as both a socio-economic necessity and a prospering career by half of the respondents. The readiness for long-distance commuting was nearly equal among male and female students. Furthermore, it is an attractive form of gaining a livelihood, especially in rural regions like those in the Republic of Bashkortostan with a competitive labour market and poor socio-economic development. On the other hand, the repeated separation from family, long travel times, inconvenient life in camps as well as health and safety concerns were cited as deterrents for the other half of the respondents. The article highlights disparities between urban and rural areas as well as between those in full-time LDC and those commuting to earn additional income to supplement their regular agricultural work.