Full statement from Guyana Shore Base Inc:
We refer to the recent local news articles from July 16 and 18, 2021, which carried the headlines “Locals complain about being paid less than expats for doing the same job at GYSBI” and “Shore Base Employees fired after complaining”, respectively. The company is extremely disappointed at the scandalous and inaccurate journalism, written with the intention to sensationalise and create stress to one of the largest employers in the industry. There has also been no effort to seek the truth and report the facts to the Guyanese public. GYSBI wishes to clarify a few of the many inaccuracies published.
Guyana Shore Base Inc (GYSBI) is not a foreign company; GYSBI is a Guyanese company working hard to improve the lives of its 432 employees and the country of Guyana. Out of its 432 employees, 25 or 6 per cent are expat employees. 94 per cent of the company’s workforce are Guyanese, with Guyanese holding many key senior management positions.
The expat employees who work for GYSBI are individuals who would have spent many years working in the oil and gas industry in many countries across the world and are only hired when specialty skills or experience are contractually or legally required. Expats bring their international experiences which are used to train locals, transfer skills and technology and more importantly, transfer international standards to Guyana’s fledgeling oil and gas industry. GYSBI is currently expanding its operations and its facilities and plans to increase its Guyanese employees to over 600 within the next two years.
Within GYSBI our Guyanese workforce work on a tiered pay structure. Employees first come in at a standard salary, which is benchmarked against the industry average. GYSBI’s internal training and development programmes, as well as the company’s performance management system, allow all employees to continue improving their skills, and those who engage these programmes are given the opportunity for promotion and development when available. Throughout this tiered structure GYSBI helps its employees achieve world class standards that deliver top service quality to its customers and help keep all our employees safe so they can return home to their families.
GYSBI is the largest and most rapidly expanding employer in the oil and gas industry in Guyana. We take this responsibility very seriously, and delivered over 2500 training hours in the last 3 months to our Guyanese workforce, who are exposed to a range of opportunities as the company expands, and are remunerated with above average salaries and benefits. We are an equal opportunity employer, with a very diverse workforce, and no worker is treated unfairly or differently. All statutory payments are remitted to the employee, and the employee is made aware of these upon starting their employment (which they also acknowledge when signing their onboarding contract), including any adjustments in compensation. GYSBI does not promise an increase in salary after the probationary period of employment. The three months of probation is required to assess the employee’s suitability in the position he/she has been employed for and whether or not additional skills or training are required. The company has different rotation schedules for workers. Great care is taken to ensure compliance with all legal requirements. Indeed, the remuneration our employees enjoy is above all legal requirements.
