Top 3 recruitment challenges for fisheries and offshore companies

TL;DR  

The fisheries and offshore sectors play a vital role in food supply, energy production, and maritime infrastructure especially across the Nordics. Recruitment within these sectors is shaped by cross-border labour dependency, a structurally tight labour market, and highly specialised candidate behaviour. While demand for skilled workers remains high, access to talent is increasingly constrained and traditional recruitment methods are often insufficient. 

Based on insights from our 2026 HR Report, built on responses from over 5 000 candidates, as well as conversations with HR leaders in the fisheries and offshore sector, this article outlines the three most pressing recruitment challenges organisations face today, and explains what addressing them requires. 

Overview 

• Why reliance on international labour adds complexity to recruitment
  
• Why a structurally tight labour market raises expectations
  
• Why traditional job boards fail to reach qualified candidates
• What this means for recruitment in fisheries and offshore

1. Strong reliance on international labour

The Nordic fisheries and offshore industry depend heavily on international and seasonal workers. Recruitment therefore often spans across multiple countries, languages, and cultural contexts. This adds complexity at every stage of the recruitment process: from writing multilingual job ads and navigating varying employment regulations, to onboarding candidates who may be unfamiliar with local standards and expectations.

For recruiters, success therefore depends mainly on clarity and adaptability. Without structured processes and clear communication, international candidates are more likely to disengage, especially in competitive labour markets where alternative opportunities are readily available.

2. Structurally tight labour market

Similarly to many other industries, low unemployment levels and an ageing workforce have created a structurally tight labour market across the fisheries and offshore sector. The pool of available workers is limited, and experienced professionals are often already employed.

This increases competition between employers and raises candidate expectations around recruitment speed, transparency, and predictability. For instance, insights from our 2026 HR Report show that candidates consistently cite

• lack of feedback,

• long or complex application requirements,

• and unclear job descriptions

as the most frustrating aspects of the recruitment process, highlighting how process design becomes even more critical in tight labour markets.

3. Candidates are active in niche channels, not job boards

Many qualified professionals in fisheries and offshore roles are not actively searching for jobs on traditional job boards. Instead, they are reached through niche channels such as sector-specific communities, professional networks, social platforms, and specialised media.

This challenges conventional recruitment strategies. Posting vacancies on general job boards alone may simply be insufficient to reach the most relevant candidates. For HR teams, this indicates that building targeted presence in the right communities and ensuring that recruitment messages are adapted to the channels, might be the way to go.

What's next?

Despite of its challenges, recruitment in fisheries and offshore doesn’t have to be limited by labour shortages or fragmented hiring processes. By adapting recruitment strategies to international realities, improving speed and clarity, and engaging talent through the right channels, organisations can build more resilient teams.

At Talentech, we work with fisheries and offshore companies across the Nordics and the Netherlands to:

• Support cross-border recruitment with multilingual, structured hiring processes
  

• Reduce time-to-hire in tight labour markets through clear workflows and automation
  

• Reach qualified candidates by engaging talent beyond traditional job boards
  

Explore how our recruitment solutions support fisheries and offshore companies HERE.