OTTAWA - The Canadian mining industry faces several labour market challenges and tens of thousands of skilled positions must be filled in the next decade to keep the industry robust.

The latest research from the Mining Industry Human Resources Council (MiHR) indicates that even in the most pessimistic forecast, the industry will need to hire nearly 60,000 workers by 2020 to meet the needs from changes in employment and replacement requirements. A period of relative stability in the sector will see hiring requirements balloon to 100,000.

Despite impressive increases in the participation of various demographic groups (e.g., women), employers are still faced with an aging workforce and a looming labour shortage, according to the MiHR Council, which has developed a number of products and resources to help provide industry with practical solutions to address this challenge. MiHR Innovate, the latest resource developed by the Council, is a collaborative platform for sharing knowledge and effective HR practices and initiatives. The first Canadian mining-specific HR community, MiHR Innovate provides mining HR professionals the opportunity to open up the dialogue and engage with fellow members of industry in the world of mining HR.

Recognizing, rewarding, showcasing

Central to MiHR Innovate is an online compendium which will house innovative mining HR practices and initiatives from Canada’s top mining employers, including Goldcorp, Teck, Cameco, Kinross and De Beers.

These practices will be featured alongside interactive discussion groups to facilitate knowledge exchange and collaboration amongst mining industry HR professionals to help the HR community strengthen ideas against an industry sounding board.  A core objective of MiHR Innovate is to achieve a positive profile for mining employers to attract motivated talent aspiring to work for employers who value their workforce. This is one facet of a long term strategy to change perceptions of the mining industry and reposition it as modern, technologically advanced and culturally diverse with great opportunities. This profile will also reinforce engagement and pride of existing mining employees about their industry and their employers.

In support of this objective, these practices will form the content of a collaborative working session which will take place in Montreal at the CIM Conference & Exhibition 2011, Mines Without Borders, in May and form a three-part series in The Canadian Business Journal, an online publication for Canada’s top industry leaders, and an official partner in the MiHR Innovate media campaign.

A small change can make a big impact

MiHR Innovate is about bringing forward new ideas to address the HR challenges specific to mining by showcasing any innovative HR practice or initiative.

“We know Canadian mining companies are developing some incredible innovative HR practices, but the industry doesn’t hear about them,” explains Ryan Montpellier, Executive Director at MiHR. “The more ideas we bring forward, the more we learn from each other and strengthen the industry because one great idea inspires another. By working together, we can accomplish more and the Council is committed to supporting these collaborative efforts.”

Submitted HR practices may include smaller, focused initiatives or more complex strategies.  The focus is to create dialogue to help the mining industry take these ideas and tailor them to address their respective HR challenges.

HR practices are categorized in four key areas: diversity and inclusion; skills, training and employee development; compensation and wellness; and social responsibility. Practices can include any type of initiative that has had an impact on the organization and its employees. Consider the following examples:

• Offering a spousal welcome program to get new spouses involved in the community

• Forming a women’s council to address the lack of representation of women in certain occupations within the company
  
  Source: Mining for Diversity: An Employer’s Guide to Attract, Recruit and Retain a Diverse Workforce. Published by the Mining Industry Human Resources Council, 2008.

MiHR Innovate will provide valuable insight into the industry’s most innovative HR practices, enhance the profile of mining employers, help change perceptions of the mining industry as a whole and positively influence recruitment by attracting motivated people who want to work for forward thinking employers.

This collection of practices will be available on the MiHR Innovate website (www.mihrinnovate.ca) during April 2011 in a collaborative framework to encourage discussion and the development of new HR solutions. To further connect mining HR professionals and build a Canadian mining human resources community of practice, mining HR professionals are invited to join The Canadian Mining HR Professionals and Innovators Group on LinkedIn. Now at over 120 members, the group is growing larger every day.  

MiHR and this project are funded in part by the Government of Canada’s Sector Council Program. The opinions and interpretations in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Government of Canada.

Notes to editors:

Key findings from MiHR’s latest research report, Canadian Mining Industry Employment and Hiring Forecasts 2010:

• The mining industry will need approximately 100,000 new workers by 2020 (assuming a baseline forecasting scenario)
• Over 60,000 people employed in the mining sector are expected to retire by 2020 
• Occupations facing the most significant hiring needs are heavy equipment operators, underground and surface miners, and skilled trades and professional occupations (e.g., geoscientists and engineers)
• Women make up 14.4 % of the mining workforce, an increase of 40% in 5 years
• The mining industry is the largest private sector employer of Aboriginal peoples; 6.75% of the workforce self identify as Aboriginal
• Employment levels are expected to shrink in most regions, except in the Prairies and Territories regions where employment growth is expected over the 10 year forecast period
• Despite shrinking employment, national hiring requirements average approximately 10,000 each year in the forecast period (assuming a baseline scenario). This is mainly due to age of the workforce and the need to replace retiring workers.
• The largest hiring requirements in Canada are expected in the Prairies at over 52,000 by 2020 (assuming the baseline forecasting scenario)
• Average overall turnover for employers is approximately 5.6%. Turnover is highest in trades and undesignated occupations and most employers reported that voluntary turnover in this occupational group has impeded productivity to a great extent over the past 2 years
• Average total compensation in mining is $40.92 per hour, ranging from $49.25 per hour in the Territories to $32.21 per hour in the Atlantic region