Industry overview
What is shaping shipbuilding
Shipbuilding and maritime services depend on a deep supplier ecosystem, skilled workforce and port infrastructure, with long project cycles and strict standards.
- Supplier capability limits how fast yards can scale
- Skilled trades are scarce and ageing
- Port users judge performance on turnaround and reliability
Client background
A shipbuilding and repair company, working in West coast of India. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.
- Organisation
- A shipbuilding and repair company
- Sector
- Shipbuilding
- Team engaged
- Market Research
- Services
- Qualitative research, Quantitative research, Reporting & insights
Client challenge
The company invested heavily in training welders and fitters, but many left within two years, often for jobs abroad or in other industries. Delivery schedules suffered as experienced teams broke up.
Research objectives
- Deliver on the brief: understanding why skilled welders leave shipyards.
- Understand the views, needs and behaviour of workers.
- Measure how widespread each pattern is, and explain the reasons behind it.
- Give the client evidence it can act on within 8 weeks.
Target audience
The work focused on 900 workers.
- workers900
Audiences we typically reach in shipbuilding
Shipyards and project managersMarine equipment suppliersSkilled workers and traineesPort users and shipping linesMaritime regulators
Geographic coverage
Coverage: West coast of India. Market: India.
- India
Research methodology
A mixed-method design: structured research measured how widespread each pattern was, and qualitative conversations explained why.
- 1Brief
- 2Worker survey
- 3Exit interviews
- 4Supervisor discussions
- 5Insight
We surveyed current workers anonymously about pay, working conditions, career progression and family circumstances, and conducted exit interviews with recent leavers by phone. Discussions with supervisors explored team dynamics and workload. Interviews were conducted in Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam and Odia.
Qualitative researchQuantitative researchReporting & insights
Sampling strategy
- workers
- 900
- Respondents were selected across West coast of India using quotas set in advance for each location and respondent type, so no single area or group dominated.
- Qualitative participants were recruited purposively to cover the full range of experiences that mattered, rather than for statistical representation.
Data collection
- exit interviews
- 40
- Trained local-language interviewers conducted interviews in person, supervised in the field.
- Interviews and discussions were led by experienced moderators using a guide agreed with the client.
Data quality & validation
- Back-checks on a share of completed interviews
- Time and location checks on field interviews
- Supervisor accompaniment in the field
- Recordings and transcripts for every session
- Re-screening of qualitative recruits
- Logic and range checks on the final data
- Work carried out under our ISO 20252 quality procedures
Data analysis
- Cross-tabulation by key groups and locations
- Significance testing on the differences that mattered
- Thematic coding of interviews and discussions
- Journey and decision mapping
Key findings
- Pay differences with overseas jobs could not be fully matched, but many workers left because of unpredictable overtime, poor accommodation and no clear path to higher grades.
- Supervisors were also trained to plan overtime earlier, and the company began tracking retention by trade and supervisor every quarter.
Retention depended on dignity and predictability as much as wages.
Recommendations
- Build on the core insight: retention depended on dignity and predictability as much as wages.
- Focus effort where the evidence was strongest: pay differences with overseas jobs could not be fully matched, but many workers left because of unpredictable overtime, poor accommodation and no clear path to higher grades.
- Re-measure after the changes to confirm the effect.
Business impact
- The company introduced skill-grade progression, improved worker housing and more predictable shift planning.
What changed in the business as a result of the work. Impact is described qualitatively.
Deliverables & next steps
- Insight report and management presentation
- Cleaned data file and data tables
- Interview summaries and key verbatims
- Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
- A natural follow-on question: how do port users rate service?
Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.