Talent shortages continue to challenge leaders in the mining and resources sectors.
According to a recent McKinsey survey, 71 percent1 of mining leaders say that talent shortages are holding them back from delivering on production targets and strategic objectives. 86 percent of mining executives also believe it is harder to recruit and retain the talent they need compared to two years prior.
Local skill and labour shortages are proving equally restrictive for mine operators in North America, where remote sites have become a much harder sell to candidates in what is already a very tight and competitive recruitment market.
“With global labour shortages and an aging mining workforce, the availability of sufficient and skilled talent will continue to challenge the mining industry as it strives to meet critical minerals demand and support the transition to a low carbon economy,” explains Paul Howard, Managing Partner for Gerard Daniels. “To combat this, we need to do more as an industry to attract and retain the next generation of talent. Improving talent mobility; putting the right talent pipelines and development strategies in place; and making careers in mining far more appealing, will be key to achieving this.”
Talent mobility
Candidate mobility remains a major hurdle in attracting talent to the North American mining industry. With people choosing not to travel and wanting to work closer to family and friends, it's getting much harder to bring talent out to the more remote mining locations. The current talent squeeze has also elevated the importance of the employee value proposition for candidates considering remote roles.
“To attract talent to remote locations, the mining industry must continue to support and invest in the communities where they operate. There must also be a strong focus on recruiting locally and upskilling local talent to create jobs and build more sustainable talent pipelines,” says Paul. “In some locations the hybrid work model provides a good alternative, allowing people to reside in nearby cities and commute out to site. To address talent mobility at a senior level, many mining organisations are also relying on executive search firms to source and relocate top leadership talent, nationally and internationally.”
Promoting rewarding careers in mining
Work priorities often change from one generation to the next. To grow the mining industry workforce in 2024 and beyond, its value proposition must align with the needs and expectations of current and future workers.
“Young people today want to be exposed to diverse professional experiences. They value development opportunities and are eager to quickly progress careers into management,” says Paul. “To attract younger workers, mining organisations must communicate openly and honestly about career paths; create development opportunities; and be clear on what it takes to grow and thrive in this industry.”
“To appeal to future generations the way that mining has in the past, organisations must also sell the benefits of working in this industry and do a much better job of promoting the diverse and rewarding careers on offer,” Paul continues. “Because the mining industry is diverse and international, and it can give young people the opportunity to travel and to have many of the experiences that they seek.”
Making mining part of the solution
The mining industry hasn’t always done a great job of branding itself, particularly in relation to ESG and digital transformation. There have also been some ethical and reputational failures that have discouraged younger workers from joining this industry. Improving mining’s reputation and performance in these areas is essential for attracting and retaining talent.
“The mining industry’s role in achieving decarbonisation is not as widely recognised as it could be, and it requires a workforce with the technical skill to drive innovation and efficiency, and the capacity to meet the demand for critical minerals and bulk commodities,” says Paul. “To attract and retain the right talent the mining industry must show that it is part of the solution and help future generations to understand their role in this transformation.”
Fostering diverse and inclusive workplaces
A diverse workforce is needed to address the mining industry’s many challenges and to meet future labour demand – but delivering on this mandate amidst a genuine talent shortage is particularly challenging. “Mining organisations worldwide are committed to creating safe, diverse and inclusive workplaces – particularly in parts of the world where this is culturally challenging to achieve,” says Paul. “But despite this focus, female employment sits at just 15% globally, so there is still a lot of work to be done.”
“Last year just over half of Gerard Daniels’ placements were female. It is also encouraging to see our mining clients driving and embracing this change within their own organisations,” Paul continues. “Diversity doesn’t happen overnight, but with the right approach it is possible to source diverse talent; build diverse talent pipelines; and drive the development and performance of diverse Boards and Executive leadership teams.”
Recruiting for the future
With US mining engineering enrolments dropping year on year for the past decade and graduations falling by 40% since 2016, it’s little wonder that the mining industry has skill gaps in key disciplines like extractive metallurgy and geotechnical engineering. Women also remain significantly under-represented in STEM education, and without growing and diversifying the talent pipeline this gap will only widen.
“To address technical skill gaps, for example, the Colorado School of Mines now offers certificate level courses for mature age students to re-train for the mining industry, which is a step in the right direction,” says Paul.
“It’s also important to recognise the diversity of mining careers today and promote the many different disciplines that will support mining in the future, consistently getting in front of students before they decide on university pathways,” says Paul. “This also means doing more to attract people seeking careers in areas like robotics, automation, AI, machine learning, big data analytics and digital transformation, as these are the disciplines that will improve the safety, productivity and sustainability of mining and drive the industry forward.”
To grow the talent pipeline for your mining organisation, connect with Paul or reach out to your local Gerard Daniels team.
