How can miners address the workforce skills shortage by changing perceptions of the sector?
Explore the key factors behind the skills gap in mining with Rob Tyson, CEO of Mining International, along with the steps miners can take to attract new talent as they work to meet growing demand for materials.
Key Takeaways
The mining sector faces a significant workforce skills shortage and is struggling to recruit enough workers to meet the growing demand for metals and minerals from society.
Digitalisation is making the issue complex, requiring mining workforces to adapt to new tools and technologies 鈥 widening the skills gap that sites face within their operations.
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) efforts will be crucial for investor retention and attracting new, younger talent to the sector who look for employers whose values align with their own.
Education has a key role to play in changing people鈥檚 perceptions of mining, highlighting its strong link to global decarbonisation, and emphasising the benefits of working within the sector.
Rob Tyson, CEO, Mining International
Rob has almost 25 years of experience in recruitment and has spent much of this time working in the mining sector. In 2014, he founded search recruitment firm Mining International to help businesses uncover the candidates they cannot find across technical, senior executive management and board-level roles. Rob is also the host of the Dig Deep podcast, which has produced over 350 episodes, has listeners in over 190 countries and was named Digital Mining鈥檚 number one mining podcast to follow in 2023.
The acute workforce skills shortage in the mining industry is made challenging by the ongoing development and adoption of advanced mining equipment and technologies. Miners must adapt rapidly and bring new digital skills into their workforce to drive the productivity and sustainability of their operations.
There are several factors that miners can address to improve the state of recruitment and retention across the sector. This includes promoting and advocating for education around mining and its importance in schools and universities. At the same time, mining can improve its image and make itself a more desirable choice for candidates by focusing on its ESG efforts whilst emphasising the unique role it plays and benefits it can provide to workers.
Exploring the workforce skills shortage in mining
To meet its commercial and environmental goals, mining must deliver more productive and sustainable operations. This will prove difficult if the sector cannot overcome the workforce skills shortage.
Currently, 86% of mining executives say it is difficult to recruit and retain the talent they need.1 And, according to 'Breaking New Ground: Shaping a Successful Future for Mining鈥, the latest whitepaper from Shell Lubricant Solutions, this leaves three-quarters of mining businesses with a lack of confidence in their ability to resolve a labour shortage for their on-site operations.2
So, how can mining address this issue? Rob Tyson, CEO, Mining International, shares his thoughts on the obstacles ahead and the steps miners can take to attract new talent to the sector.
鈥淭he main challenge is that there鈥檚 not enough metals and minerals being mined in the world for the foreseeable future,鈥 says Tyson. 鈥淓specially with governments wanting to electrify many sectors. That is exacerbated by the fact that there are not enough people in the mining sector to fulfil companies鈥 growth predictions or the pipeline of projects they want to get started with to meet the growing global demand of materials needed for human consumption and future growth.鈥
Rob Tyson, CEO, Mining International鈥淲hat you are finding now is that there are not enough people in the mining sector to fulfil companies鈥 growth predictions or the pipeline of projects they want to get started with to meet the growing global demand of materials needed for human consumption and future growth.鈥
Tyson describes finding the right people for senior and technical roles as like 鈥渇inding a needle in a haystack鈥 鈥 and he believes it is going to get even more difficult.
鈥淔or example, look at mine engineering candidates,鈥 he explains. 鈥淭hey are becoming more difficult to find because there are less people entering universities studying mine engineering and other mining related courses. Some universities are cutting mine engineering courses from their curriculum. Therefore, there are less candidates to meet the sector鈥檚 needs and demands in this particular area of specialisation.鈥
Digitalisation could widen the workforce skills gap
The ongoing digitalisation of mining is adding to the challenge, with a growing transition to data-centric, autonomous, and remote operations changing the skills profile needed for mining.3
鈥淎nything in the mining sector takes years to adopt,鈥 says Tyson. 鈥淲hich means miners are working with the technology that is in front of them. It depends on the size of the company. Smaller companies are more likely to outsource these tasks to specialist providers and it becomes more about finding the right partner. Bigger companies, however, could potentially bring those skills in-house to be more cost effective.鈥
How miners plan to use each technology makes a huge difference as well. 鈥淟ooking at drones, if you need the technology for a few weeks, it makes less sense to hire a specialist on contract if it鈥檚 not used regularly,鈥 continues Tyson. 鈥淭hese are the factors that are shaping decision making around recruitment.鈥
The importance of ESG for mining recruitment
Increasing the number of people in mining with the right skills for the future will not be a swift journey or have a quick fix. But one shorter-term solution miners can work on to improve recruitment and retention is to have a greater focus on their ESG efforts.
鈥淚t鈥檚 clear that companies need to be talking about 鈥 and then acting on 鈥 ESG,鈥 says Tyson. 鈥淓specially if they want to attract investors as investors are seeking responsible companies to invest in. There鈥檚 a limited pool of money coming into the mining sector at present, and that investment will go to the companies that have better ESG programmes and initiatives.鈥
ESG will also be important for attracting the younger generation of workers and recruiting them into the sector. In fact, almost half (46%) of adults want the company they work for to demonstrate a commitment to ESG.
鈥淧eople think mining is a dirty and unattractive sector,鈥 explains Tyson. 鈥淏ut, if you are on top of your ESG goals 鈥 doing the right thing around the environment, looking after local communities, building schools and hospitals and providing education as mining companies generally do within the communities they operate in 鈥 it is going to be more attractive to a workforce that is far more conscious of these issues.鈥
Rob Tyson, CEO, Mining International鈥淕etting ESG right seems to be a number-one focus for mining businesses right now, and it is good that more are speaking about it. But that is just the first step. You must put your ambitions into practice.鈥
Educating the next generation of mining talent
Looking at the longer-term it is vital for miners to do more to promote education about and for mining, which will help to expand the pool of available candidates in future generations. And part of this will include improving the image of mining in people鈥檚 minds.
鈥淭he branding of mining has a role to play in the current skills shortage because people often don鈥檛 know what mining is,鈥 explains Tyson. 鈥淭hey do not realise that everything in this world must either be grown or mined 鈥 and we will need a lot more mines to support decarbonisation.鈥
An example of this is the fact that wind turbines and other sustainable solutions will require mining materials for their production 鈥 showing that mining is critical to decarbonisation efforts across almost every industry and sector.
Rob Tyson, CEO, Mining International鈥淭here is this perception that mining is a dirty industry 鈥 something we need to wind down, rather than accelerate. We need governments to take the lead on building awareness among the public and making the link between mining and sustainability clear to all.鈥
鈥淚t is essential for us to focus on education at the school level to build this understanding,鈥 says Tyson. 鈥淭hat will then help to change the current image of mining 鈥 it鈥檚 not just about going into an underground mine or driving a truck. There are other roles and skills that you can transfer into mining such as AI, technology, supply chains, finance, and marketing.鈥
The focus on education demonstrates that miners cannot change the image of the sector by themselves. They will need to work with institutions and governments around the world to clarify to the public exactly how important mining is to society.
Shaping a positive vision for the future of mining
Changing people鈥檚 perceptions of mining and making it a more attractive proposition to talent has an important role to play in addressing the sector鈥檚 skill shortage. But how can miners achieve this?
鈥淥ne important step is to emphasise the unique benefits of working in the sector,鈥 suggests Tyson. 鈥淭he remote nature of the work means people will likely live in a mining town 鈥 and there are many benefits to being there. We should be promoting everything that is positive.鈥
Another step he highlights is to show that there is more to mining than digging up materials.
"The sector has more to offer in terms of tech-based roles 鈥 especially as digitalisation continues,鈥 continues Tyson. 鈥淲e should look outside of mining for new talent. There are jobs with transferable skills. Again, this comes down to changing the image of mining so we can attract those people from other areas. Changing the branding of mining is vital.鈥
Find out more about how miners can take steps to attract new talent, and why doing so will be critical to them achieving their commercial and environmental goals. Read the full 鈥楤reaking New Ground鈥 whitepaper:
Disclaimers:
1 McKinsey. 鈥.鈥 2023.
2 Based on a survey to 561 decision makers in the mining industry across the globe in July 2022. The survey was commissioned by Shell Lubricants Solutions and conducted by research firm Edelman Intelligence.
3 Frost & Sullivan. 鈥淜ey Trends and Impact on the Metals & Mining Sector.鈥 2023.
4 KPMG. 鈥淐limate quitting - younger workers voting with their feet on employer鈥檚 ESG commitments.鈥 2023.
