By establishing a diverse range of initiatives and working with industry stakeholders RTCA has invested heavily in skilling for the future and has a variety of programs that work to attract women into its various coal operations.

A RTCA spokesperson told International Longwall News the company has the most difficulty in filling vacancies for trade and engineering roles but is hopeful its various initiatives will help ease the drought in the future.

The spokesperson explained RTCA recruitment projects include:

• A five-year, $A2 million partnership with the University of Queensland - announced this year to address skills shortages in the mining and engineering sector in Queensland - to support a range of teaching and research activities aimed at improving mine planning and operations.
• RTCA's Hail Creek Mine recently announced a $28,000 partnership with Central Queensland University to fund seven scholarships for first year university students, enrolled to commence study in 2008, to help address the skills shortage. The scholarships are across a range of disciplines - engineering, science, business, nursing and information technology.
• RTCA's Hail Creek Mine this year won the inaugural Queensland Resources Council Award for Women, due to its recruitment process which focuses on encouraging women to enter the mining workforce, particularly in non-traditional roles.
• RTCA's Graduate Development Programme is widely advertised each year across Australia and consistently attracts a strong field of candidates. This is a structured three-year program with leadership and technical training and the opportunity to transfer to other business units and travel.
• RTCA provides opportunities to students to participate in work experience placements onsite, along with a 10-week Vacation Work program.
• RTCA attends careers fairs at targeted universities, and this year started the Rio Tinto: More Than Just Mining travelling roadshow presentations which were delivered at key universities across Australia in a bid to attract students from mechanical/electrical and chemical/process disciplines to the mining industry.
• The RTCA recruitment section is also looking at attending specific events that target surveying students, such as the RMIT Inaugural Spatial Industry Careers Night next year.
• Individual minesites are also playing a recruitment role, with specialists taking up guest lecturing roles at universities and speaking at information/careers sessions.

The spokesperson told ILN that RTCA is keeping a close eye on the way the industry is responding to the severe skills shortage and reviews its various initiatives regularly.

"The rapid growth in the resources sector and subsequent skills shortage has created a highly competitive environment for job seekers ... and as a result there has been an increase in the number of jobs available, a response by universities to increase the number of student positions in mining-related fields, and the requirement for employers to offer more flexibility to their workforce," the spokesperson said.

"RTCA is pleased that this combination has created a more diversified workplace at our sites, with new entrants to the mining industry, people bringing more and varied life/education experiences to our workforce and an increase in people who are interested in taking up non-traditional roles."