Over the next twenty years, the Highland Valley Copper mine near Logan Lake is going to have more and more problems meeting an expected skills shortage due to 20% of its workforce retiring, reports Kamloops This Week.
Mark Freberg, manager of strategic planning for Highland Valley Copper, said the company does attempt to forecast when employees are going to retire and has a succession plan in place for many of the positions in its operation.
In the short term, Freberg expects the mine will be able to handle the oncoming exodus. However, in the next 10 to 20 years, he believes it will be a huge challenge to fill jobs left behind by those retiring, not only for the mine and the industry, but for other sectors of the economy.