With almost half of Canada’s present mining sector workforce over the age of 45 and 60,000 persons expected to retire in the next decade, the industry is facing a serious shortage of labor supply. In addition, projections also show that a further 25,000 to 30,000 people will leave the sector for various reasons. Over the next 10 years, it is estimated that roughly 100,000 new workers will be needed by numerous companies like Canada-based Kingman Minerals (TSX.V: KGS) in order to meet the sector’s labor supply requirements.
There are many forces molding the coming generation of workers in the mining sector with the dominant ones being inclusion, diversity and technology. Studies have shown that immigrants, indigenous people and women are severely underrepresented in the mining sector, with women for instance making up a mere 17% of the mining workforce. It should also be noted that a majority of young people tend to be drawn to urban areas as opposed to the rural areas where mining jobs exist, thus creating an even sparser labor market.
New sophisticated technologies influence the industry, shifting the level and types of skills needed in the mining sector while also reducing their dependence on labor through automation. For example, in the last 15 years, the number of people with a university degree who work in the mining industry has doubled. Many companies are employing highly skilled workers from all disciplines, including programmers, data analysts, computer scientists and engineers to operate this equipment.
Additionally, data from the Mining Industry Human Resources Council (“MiHR”) shows that women are two times more likely to leave the mining sector in contrast to men and points out the significant limits existing in mining especially when it comes to capturing the interest, engaging and employing members of underrepresented groups.
However, the figures also indicate that many mining companies have been developing diversity policies and moving towards more inclusive workplaces by growing and promoting their workers and making adjustments to their recruitment methods, in order to diversify the mining industry more. For instance, in Canada, the mining sector is among the largest employers of indigenous people, with about 15,000 indigenous workers, who represent a little above 7% of the total mining workforce.
Besides, issuing toolkits, guides and recommendations to assist companies to progress into more inclusive and diverse firms, MiHR’s Gearing Up program is also issuing a wage subsidy of roughly $7,000 to mining employers who design new work-integrated learning (“WIL”) opportunities for students in STEM (science, technology, engineering or math programs) or business programs. These measures are expected to attract more younger people into the mining industry.
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