As the baby boomer generation approaches retirement, the transportation workforce is increasingly under strain. Employees are exiting the industry in larger volumes than incoming hires; which is creating a need to reevaluate and revamp work processes. In addition, the industry is transitioning into the 21st century and that is requiring the adaptation of new technologies. The gap between old and new employee skills is growing and seen throughout the industry. There is a growing need and opportunity to develop a new set of job competencies which create job specifications and job postings, which support the organization’s strategic plan. In this thesis existing DOT job specifications and job postings for Civil Engineers were gathered and reviewed. Current industry standard competencies from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) were also gathered and used to summarize existing specifications. Results evaluated how Departments of Transportation in New England compare to their counterparts.

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This empirical research explored the capacity building of human resources in the emerging oil and gas sector in Ghana. Ghana’s oil and gas were discovered in commercial quantities in 2007 by GNPC and its partners in Jubilee field in the Cape Three Point in the western region, which signified a turning point in the development effort of the state. Local skills shortage perceived as a significant challenge. Thus the government envisaged the need to build local skill capacity which attracted an initial grant of US$38 million from World Bank to facilitate the implementation of oil and gas capacity building project in 2010. The study adopted a mixed method approach for primary data collection. Matched samples of employees (226) working in four public sector organisations in the oil and gas sector were surveyed using the simple random technique, while human resource/training and development directors (9) were purposively sampled and interviewed on the human resources capacity building to assess and corroborates the survey data. The study findings confirmed shortcomings in local skills in the public organisations in the petroleum industry. Comparatively, the results suggested that the performance appraisal tools could be further improved. The study also found local skills mismatch. It revealed that inadequate funding and delays in the release of funds affected local skill capacity building in the public-sector organisations in the industry. Originality, this is one of the very few studies to explore the shortcomings of local skill capacity in the selected organisation including the strategies used in addressing the skill gap. Research implications, more matched-sample studies are necessary to understand further how private companies (IOC’s) contributing to local skill capacity building. Practically, the study is of significance to the policymakers to address the skill gap in the energy sector. The main contribution of the research is to conceptualise the concept of HRM in Ghana’s context. The thesis, therefore, is an essential contribution to our understanding of the skill gap in the oil and gas industry in Ghana and the role of HR in this field.

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