Automation & robotics
workers if anything is going to change. One particular recruitment challenge is that the view of mining among parts of the general public has faced increased scrutiny as environmental awareness and concerns grow alongside the ongoing climate challenge. To help turn this around, the industry will need to become more open and inclusive towards potential employees, who previously would not have considered a career in mining. In a survey by the Mining Industry Human Resources Council of Canada, 70% of respondents aged between 15–30 years old said they would not consider a career in mining – the highest proportion of all other industries surveyed. It is crucial, then, that the mining sector works to rehabilitate its image in the coming years, or it could struggle to find the workers it needs. “You make a choice once you graduate,” notes
38% PwC 24
Mackay. “You’ve got a nice, clean, hygienic future going off in one direction, and then you’ve got mining coming from another direction.” As an ex-miner, having received a blasting certificate when he was 20 years old, he’s quick to note his compassion and respect for the industry. But many graduates are young, without much in the way of worldly experience, and they haven’t had the opportunity to develop the thick skin you need to work in the mining industry – which can be a shock for the unprepared. “When people talk about mentally challenging environments in mining, that’s a euphemism for the fact that it’s hard labour,” Mackay says. “A lot of graduates are worried about it being a toxic work culture.” At the same time, many graduates are concerned over the perception that there are limited opportunities for advancement – that while there are many skilled people entering the industry, “there’s still an ‘us and them’ environment between the university guys and the old mining guys”, as Mackay puts it, which makes it difficult for those with a tech background to break into senior positions in the industry. Similarly, some students and graduates are worried about job security in the industry, Mackay notes, citing new methods of recycling as one such cause for concern. “They thought that it would have a limited lifespan based on the drive towards a circular economy and recycling – [for example,] in PGM’s. The perspective of more mining required to support the energy transition isn’t well grasped.”
The percentage of workers at metals and mining companies that were concerned about not getting sufficient training in digital and technology skills.
Value the workforce However, in his experience, mining companies aren’t looking to use digital technologies and workers with scarce skills to replace their current workforces. As part of the ‘Ten insights into 4IR’ study, “We asked all 20 mining CEOs and their teams, ‘Is technology going to reduce employment in mining?’ And the answer was ‘no’,” Mackay says. Instead, the industry has recognised that “we need miners to be miners, and we need data scientists to support them with the
information that they need at the right time in the right place”. In particular, parts of the industry have shown that there is no need to replace its current workers with those possessing scarce tech skills – those already working in the mining industry are more than capable of learning new skills themselves. Mackay cites his experience with one South African mining company, which digitalised its entire mining operation without hiring any new scare skills workers over a 15-year- period – instead, it trained its current workforce with the skills they needed. “You don’t necessarily need to go and bring in clever people from outside – you’ve got a lot of clever people inside mining,” he adds, noting that a great culture can replace the need to bring in scare skills. “Instead of bringing in experts, they learned together. It took them longer, maybe, but they did it without replacing a single human being.” Similarly, for parts of mining like coal, there’s a lack of desire to work in this sector because it’s considered a dirty industry. “And some graduates feel like it’s immoral to go work for it,” Mackay adds. Of course, the mining industry is set to play a crucial role in the energy transition, providing the key metals and materials for renewable energy and climate technologies. Indeed, achieving global emissions-reduction targets will require more mining products, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) – more steel for wind turbines, more copper for transmission lines and electrical components, more lithium for batteries, more rare earth materials for electronics.
And because many mining operations are in hot, dry, remote environments, mining leaders know the pressure that climate change can create. In PwC’s 26th Annual Global CEO Survey, 35% of mining CEOs said their companies are highly or extremely exposed to climate risks arising in the next five years. It’s clear, then, that mining companies are well aware that they must work to reduce their carbon emissions.
Lessons learned
As a result, educating people at a local level at the energy transition and the role that coal does plays, why it’s still important and how it’s going to taper off, is something that the mining industry needs to play an active role in. “More needs to be done in terms of educating communities about the industry, going to universities and high schools and explaining its role in society, so that’s it’s not just seen as ‘the bad industry’,” says Khutlang. In particular, she adds, mining companies could go much further to highlight the work they do for the communities around them, particularly their involvement in infrastructure, health and education.
Mackay also believes that the industry doesn’t do nearly enough to highlight its good deeds. In South
World Mining Frontiers /
www.nsenergybusiness.com
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