Chamber and committees

And, as you said at the beginning, in order to have thriving communities, we must have jobs.

I want to move on to the issue of certainty, which is difficult when we are in a change phase. When Governments change tack at various points, such as we have seen with the UK Government’s climate change ambitions being diluted, what does that lack of certainty do to industry in particular? What does it do from the point of view of investment and confidence among industry members?

Does anyone else want to come in on that?

Convener, I would like to make one final point.

What about you, Mr Boland?

A number of you have talked about port infrastructure. That is extremely important as we move forward, but some of the proposed changes to ports are quite controversial. Aberdeen south harbour did not get by without a wee bit of controversy, but now the vast majority of people would agree that it was the right thing to do, not only for Aberdeen but for the whole of the north-east, as we move forward. We can already see business transferring to Aberdeen that would not have gone there before. How do we get around such projects, which are often controversial? How do we explain to communities the necessity for such changes in order for us to get to a stage at which we can not only survive but thrive? I do not know who wants to answer that. Business has a big part to play in communication with communities.

Maybe the folk who will be meeting on 18 January will have taken cognisance of what has been said today.

I turn to Suzanne Sosna to ask about how flexible companies are in terms of change. You talked about the fear of a year going by without contracts, but are there folk who are stuck and who are not looking at the future in the way that they should by diversifying? What are you and other agencies doing to get them to see the light on diversification?

I wouldnae be buying the pizza. [Laughter.]

I get all that, but who needs their heads knocked together to get this show on the road?

I want to move on, convener. We have heard about the perceived differences in how jobs will operate in this new future. Professor de Leeuw talked about there being a much more transient workforce. Would it be fair to say that there is already a pretty transient workforce in the north-east? Aberdeen has operated as a global city. Folk have come and folk have gone. Aberdonians have moved elsewhere and come back. Is that transience maybe less of a challenge for Aberdeen and the north-east of Scotland than it would be elsewhere?