A RECORD 98% of oil and gas services firms in Scotland expect to recruit staff, according to survey findings which also indicate the boom in the North Sea has led to serious skills shortages.

Around three in four of the firms providing services like rig management for oil and gas companies told Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce they also expect to increase employee numbers next year, after replacing those who leave.

With half of the firms that produce oil and gas also expecting to add staff, the survey results suggest many workers in the industry could be in line for another year of bumper pay increases.

The chamber said average pay increased by 6.5% in the past year for people working for firms that operate oil and gas fields while salaries in the services industry increased by 4.8%, without giving details.

In March, oil and gas recruitment specialists forecast average annual salaries in the North Sea would increase by 15% to £74,000.

The findings of the latest quarterly survey by Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce underline the scale of the boost to the economy that is being generated by the surge in activity off the UK.

In August, industry body Oil and Gas UK said firms planned to invest £44bn in new facilities.

The resulting boost to the jobs market could last for years.

Some 81% of respondents to the chamber survey expected to increase their core staff numbers over the next three years.

The results of the survey, sponsored by law firm Bond Dickinson, may trigger renewed concern the industry could be crimped by shortages of people with the skills required to develop and operate North Sea assets.

Three-quarters of the companies operating fields and 68% of services firms said they had had recruitment difficulties, in line with last year.

With activity booming around the world, North Sea firms face fierce competition from rivals overseas for staff.

Half of all respondents said the loss of employees to companies in other oil regions around the globe had been a factor.

"The findings reveal that the industry's growth is being constrained by skills shortages in key areas," said the chamber.

Completed before the publication of the Scottish Government's White Paper on Independence on Tuesday, the survey found some companies were frustrated by a lack of information on the potential impact of a yes vote in the referendum on the issue next September.

Kenny Paton, oil and gas partner at Bond Dickinson, said: "More and more of our clients in oil and gas and other sectors are raising questions about the implications of the result of the referendum ... The main concerns that we are being approached about involve personal and corporate tax issues and fiscal policies."

In the White Paper, the Scottish Government said it has no plans to increase the overall tax burden on the oil industry and no changes will be made to the fiscal regime without consultation.

Aberdeen and Grampian chamber of commerce advised its members to take their time to consider the contents of the white paper.

However, the survey found oil and gas firms expect activity to remain stable at high levels through 2014.

With operators and contractors increasingly confident about the prospects for overseas markets, the survey findings underline the scale of the recruitment challenge in the North Sea. Operators are finding it particularly hard to recruit staff for drilling-related activity. People with skills in areas like subsurface, reservoir and pipeline engineering are in short supply.

Contractors face challenges recruiting enough staff with experience of working offshore, especially engineers. The chamber found 31% of contractors had sourced staff from non-oil and gas firms, up from 18% last year.

The chamber is cooperating with industry body OPITO and others to produce what it expects to be an authoritative industry report examining skills gaps in the sector for publication in early 2014.

The survey was conducted by Strathclyde's Fraser of Allander Institute from August to September.