British Columbia, Canada’s most western province, will employ over 16,700 mining professionals in the next 10 years according to a report released Wednesday by the Mining Industry Human Resources Council (MiHR) in partnership with the BC Mining HR Task Force.
However the study acknowledges that human resources challenges continue to threaten the future competitiveness of the B.C. mining industry.
“A combination of factors including the pending retirement of the baby boom generation, difficulties in attracting and engaging youth and an under-representation of diverse groups paints a challenging ten-year talent forecast,” it says.
While the industry has taken tremendous strides in addressing these issues, finding experienced and skilled workers is becoming more difficult, and competition across sectors of the economy is increasing, says the document.
The British Columbia Hiring Requirements and Available Talent Forecasts: Exploration, Mining, and Stone, Sand, & Gravel 2012 report shows cumulative hiring requirements of 13,300 under a baseline scenario, whilst an uptick in the BC mining industry could see this number rise by at least 3,000.
“Based on what we know today, that there won’t be enough new entrants to the mining labour market to meet the projected needs” cautions Dr Martha Roberts, Director of Research at MiHR. “It will be essential for industry employers to be strategic and proactive in workforce planning to ensure the right people can be found when the skills and labour shortages are realized,” adds Roberts.
The impact of the pending retirements and strategies to manage through this will continues to be a priority for mining employers. Net change in employment in the BC mining industry is expected to increase slightly over the forecast period, with the bulk of hiring requirements stemming from a need to replace retiring workers.
“The key element that has not changed in the ten-year outlook is that the workforce continues to age. Nearly half of the mining workforce is eligible to retire by 2022 so we are not only going to lose workers, but the valuable knowledge and experience they take with them” says Roberts.
Regional and subsector analysis show that hiring needs and the talent gap differ throughout the province. “The report provides a solid foundation for local solutions to reflect the needs in mineral exploration, mining, and stone, sand and gravel extraction,” says David Bazowski, Chair of the BC Mining HR Task Force.
“We can look ahead and target solutions to fill critical gaps and ensure the future success of our industry. The report findings highlight the importance of partnerships and collaborations between industry employers, government, and education providers that have been nurtured through the activities of the BC Mining HR Task Force,” he adds.
In the last three years BC has seen a record of mining claims, with more than 11,000 filed in the first seven months of 2012.
The industry revenues in B.C. have doubled over the past eight years, reaching more than $9.8 billion in 2011. In terms of mineral exploration, that nearly $463 million was spent last year alone and 2012 should see a similar amount by the end of the year.
6 Comments
rubyfruitradio
Teck Resources has many jobs in BC http://jobs.teck.com/
Susan_Edwards
If employers don’t start recognizing the benefits and value of hiring entry level workers they will never fill the void the retiring workforce leaves behind. Now is the time to partner new hires with your seasoned employees so that your work culture and their knowledge can be shared before it is too late. Robar Centre is a private career college in Ontario. We safety train experienced heavy equipment operators. We also train safety and technique to entry level operators. Many of our graduates are willing to relocate. Give our home-grown Canadian talent an opportunity before you look outside of the country.
James
There are trades people here and apprentices; myself being the latter, who day in and day out hit the pavement searching for work in our trades and try to get our apprenticeships done to fill the gap, only to get past over time and time again. I moved here (to take care of ailing family members and my child full time) with over three years experience as an apprentice electrician in the industrial and mining sectors and can’t even get so much as a notice of receipt for my efforts or even an answer of the phone when I call looking for work. So is it really that there is a shortage of people who want to work in the sector or that the sector doesn’t want to hire and train. Getting tired of hearing about all these new jobs that are coming but who are they going to?
Akber
Alot of young professionals like myself in BC are frustrated with top notch housing prices which have totally surpassed affordability. Here is a piece of advice to the premier…tackle the housing markets and you will have all the experienced professionals in BC. That is my take on it. BC has amazing mining schools.
tofurkey
Pretty much none of the mine workers will be wearing suits like those pictured in the article, more like nomex and PPE.
Marie Anton
yah, those are the engineers/drafters inside the office… they should have shown the field workers too