Such sentiments are backed up by the results of the recent business survey showing that labour shortages remain a big problem for the mining industry and that recruitment specialists are widening the net to meet demand.
The December 2006 results of the Quarterly Online Business Manager Survey reveal widespread labour shortages across various industries with continuing short supply of engineers, technicians and tradespeople. The survey conducted by the Recruitment & Consulting Services Association (RCSA) involved input from heads of business in Australia and New Zealand.
RCSA chief executive Julie Mills said labour shortages were affecting every industry, but mining was one of the hardest hit. “The skills highest in demand across the country –trades and engineering – are those particularly important for mining,” she said.
Virtually all respondents (94%) backed the statement “lack of suitable candidates remains a top concern”, while 83% of survey respondents disagreed with the proposition that “it is easy to find appropriate applicants for positions”
Rio Tinto external affairs advisor Katina Dawsin told Australia’s Mining Monthly that the competition for attracting quality workers was not abating.
“Getting the right people is as difficult now as it has ever been and it appears it will continue this way for some time – at least the next two to three years,” she said.
With employers struggling to find suitable people to accommodate the resources sector boom, many are looking beyond Australian shores. The RCSA reported that just over a quarter of organisations surveyed assisted clients with work sponsorship visas, with nearly a fifth directly sponsoring employment visa holders. Almost half of respondents said they were interested in attending overseas skills expos.
Hudson Resources is one recruitment firm that works closely with industry to help meet its employment needs. Its Australian director for resources and energy Ashley McKinnon said demand was particularly high for engineers, skilled trades and high level executives, and that the company had broadened its scope to recruit international mining industry staff.
“[Demand] is very strong right now and the difficulty is in finding the right people to meet that demand,” he said. “To some extent the best of the best has come through and now we’re having to use lateral means to meet the demand.”
BHP Billiton spokeswoman Emma Meade echoed McKinnon’s outlook and said international recruitment was one way of tackling the skills shortage.
As well as going overseas for experienced staff, BHPB has also turned to sourcing graduates from non-traditional global labour pools.
“We are recruiting graduates from all over the world including regions where traditionally we have not had a presence in the past such as Russia, Brazil, India, Indonesia, China, Mongolia and Africa,” Meade said.
While Australia may present a distinct lifestyle advantage for many employees coming from less developed countries, it gives rise to a whole host of cultural challenges that employers must understand.
McKinnon told AMM it was important companies briefed potential international employees on Australian work culture and practices and also on the kind of lifestyle they could expect in a small Australian town or remote area. He said it was imperative that companies understand the challenges faced not just by the individual worker but by their family as well.
Understanding and accommodating the needs of workers with family commitments is another challenge to industry. A more flexible response to shift patterns could benefit industry by providing more attractive alternative employment options and recent changes to government policy on tax deductions for home-based childcare could mean mine workers with parenting responsibilities are better positioned to enter or remain in the resources industry.
Finding the right people with the right skills has also proved a challenge for executive appointments, McKinnon said, particularly with local executives being swallowed up by the oil and gas sector.
The RCSA survey results also show companies are struggling to get staff who are “suitable”. Recent developments in labour sourcing suggest these companies have perhaps been too narrow in their definition of “suitable”
McKinnon told AMM that as demand for mining staff rose, companies were broadening their recruitment net and were being quicker to recognise international equivalency of qualifications and the value of people with transferable and complementary skills. He said the larger companies tended to be more receptive to this as they had greater resources for further training and mentoring.
There has also been an increased willingness to look at candidates from allied industries.
Graduates provided another key avenue for recruitment solutions, with BHPB almost doubling the number of graduates it employed globally over the past two years. The company is also keenly aware of the importance of establishing and maintaining links with educational institutions, a move that can foster development and create a ready pool of candidates for the resources industry.
“We provide scholarships and direct university sponsorship to ensure the continued sustainability of the education infrastructure supporting the supply of professional mining resources,” Meade said. “This funding is not limited to graduate studies as we have also increased our support and intake of apprenticeships programs, with a view to increasing the pool of trade qualified personnel.”
Rio Tinto Iron Ore reported a similar commitment to graduate development and apprenticeships.
Hudson’s McKinnon said while many young people were attracted to the mining industry for the travel and adventure it offered, industry image was also an important factor.
The RCSA reported that staff turnover was on the up, rising by 10% from the last quarter to 41% a year. While the report showed the issue was most pronounced in boom state Western Australia, McKinnon confirmed staff turnover was a national concern for the mining industry with salary competition fuelling industry head hunting.
“There’s a fair bit of poaching,” he said, “Some like to deny it, but it definitely goes on.”
The RCSA’s Mills told AMM that high remuneration in the mining industry was not the only way of holding onto staff.
“If employers in the sector want to bring down turnover and keep their current, valued employees, they must ensure that they look at factors beyond money such as flexibility of hours, good communication with staff and opportunities for training and career progression,” she said.
Meade said BHPB was conscious of fostering the professional development of its staff and saw it as a way of retaining staff and meeting future industry needs. She said it was necessary for internal resources to be “adequately prepared and motivated”
Despite problems in sourcing and retaining employees, overall staff growth continues to rise, particularly in New South Wales and Queensland, however the growth rate is slowing. The RCSA clocked staff growth at 11.6%, down from 16.74% in the last quarter, with significant growth evident in both permanent part-time and on-hire employment levels.
In addition to challenges presented by labour shortages, survey results showed Australian employers are most weighed down by legal issues relating to on-hired staff and issues of workers’ compensation and occupational health and safety.
