A big step forward for Guyana’s workforce development has been announced with the formal establishment of Atlantic Talent Inc., a new joint venture between Guyana’s Fiscal Frontier Inc. and Canada’s Avara Solutions.
This partnership aims to address the growing demand for skilled professionals in the oil and gas sector, Director Dr. Natasha Gaskin-Peters told OilNOW. She said it focuses not only on recruitment but also on comprehensive capacity building from entry-level to experienced positions.
Fiscal Frontier Inc., led by Dr. Gaskin-Peters and Gina Arjoon, is a women-owned Guyanese firm that brings local expertise and a deep understanding of Guyana’s market needs. In partnership with Avara Solutions, an international staffing leader with a strong track record in oil and gas and healthcare recruitment, Atlantic Talent Inc. is positioned to deliver ‘best of both worlds’ solutions for the industry.
Mitch O’Reilly and Steven McGrath join Dr. Gaskin-Peters and Arjoon as directors of the joint venture.
The company’s approach combines immediate high-volume recruitment with long-term workforce localization strategies, ensuring that oil and gas companies in Guyana have access to a high-quality, fit-for-purpose workforce.
The venture’s suite of services includes staffing and recruitment, workforce development (training & capacity building), and operational support tailored to the needs of multinational companies operating in Guyana.
The company was officially established in September 2025.
Atlantic Talent is not just another recruitment agency. The company’s mission is to be a game-changer in the sector by building local talent pipelines and integrating health, safety, security, and environment (HSSE) training, soft skills development, and offshore preparedness into its programs so that candidates are work-ready on day one.
The founders are keenly aware of the challenges and opportunities in Guyana’s growing energy sector. “Yes, what we find in recruitment is that a lot of the recruiting companies are providing staffing, but the capacity element is missing.
“So, we wanted to ensure that Guyanese can be on a long-term path, even if working through an agency, in terms of their career,” Dr. Gaskin-Peters explained.
To this end, Atlantic Talent will engage with leaders from technical schools, including the Guyana Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), the Ministry of Education, and the University of Guyana, to create a pipeline of new graduates.
Dr. Gaskin-Peters shared: “We will have a training component and capacity building that runs side by side with recruiting, because we don’t want folks to just see themselves as an agency worker… working with an oil and gas company… we want them to see a pathway of growth with that oil and gas company.”
Through its partnership with Avara Solutions, Atlantic Talent will facilitate knowledge transfer from international experts to local staff. “Our Canadian partner will be helping us to support the international expertise and be able to bring in expatriates. What we want to do is to be able to pair our local staff with those expats so we can have a transfer of skills and knowledge over time, and those staff gain those experiences,” the co-founder emphasized.
This pairing model is designed to ensure that, over time, certain positions within the oil and gas sector can remain in Guyana. “That pairing is being offered through our agency, with our expat workers and our local workers, which will also help in the capacity-building side of things. So, over time, certain positions can be nationalized,” she stated.
Atlantic Talent’s approach enables clients to meet local content, staffing, and reporting obligations while demonstrating real impact on the development of Guyana’s workforce. “This is the model of human capacity building that Atlantic Talent will bring that is really different from any other employment agency,” Dr. Gaskin-Peters asserted.
The company is committed to working closely with oil and gas companies to implement this model, drawing on the founders’ deep roots in Guyana and their passion for empowering local talent.
“We’re ready to partner with oil and gas operators, government, education providers, and other key stakeholders to build this model at scale. We aim to be the reliable implementing partner; and who better than two Guyanese professionals who have navigated the sector, understand the local market, and know how to chart career pathways for our people.”
The Director added: “We’re deeply passionate about this model and about capacity building for Guyanese, because we want to see our people grow over time.”
