OSLO, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Two-thirds of Norway's oil and gas business leaders expect their industry to grow in 2019, news agency NTB reported on Tuesday.
A resilience test carried out by the leading energy and shipping certification agency DNV GL showed that 77 percent of 791 industry leaders were optimistic about growth prospects this year.
39 percent of the Norwegian business leaders polled expected their company to create more jobs this year.
Furthermore, only 13 percent anticipated the need to reduce workforce in 2019, which is 55 percent and 21 percent less than in 2017 and 2018 respectively.
"It is good news that the painful job cuts that took place during the recent market downturn now decline as Norwegian oil and gas companies have taken clear steps to increase their cost efficiency and recreate profitability," said Arve Johan Kalleklev, regional manager of DNV GL Norway.
24 percent of the leaders surveyed said that their company will increase investments, and 87 percent believe that cost control will increase or remain unchanged in 2019.
70 percent said they expected to be able to achieve their revenue targets, up from 65 percent last year.
Among the countries analysed, Norway is one where the pace of recruitment is most likely to increase and the reduction in the number of employees to decrease, the report said.
