A new B.C. mining boom is underway, and that means metal producers are not only hiring people to fill new positions, but they are also preparing for an exodus of baby boomers.
Jim Utley, vice-president of human resources at B.C.’s biggest miner Teck Resources Ltd. (TSX:TCK.B), said the company faces a “double-barreled” challenge to maintain a strong workforce in the coming years.
Fortunately, Teck saw it coming.
“Leading up to this year, there were a number of things we were doing to prepare ourselves … this last year, we got really focused on tying it all together with a view to ensuring we can attract and retain people as we deal with this demographic shift,” Utley said.
Canada’s Mining Industry Human Resources Council predicts the industry will need to hire 100,000 new workers in the next decade to meet growth and retirement demands.
At Teck, which has a workforce of approximately 10,000, Utley believes the company will lose 3,500 people to retirement in the next 10 years.
In the last year, the company has hired 1,100 people to support growth and fill positions left vacant by retirees.
Teck has also developed an extremely comprehensive strategy to not only track and monitor shifts in its workforce, but also source new workers and help current employees advance.
The company has evolving charts that measure turnover rates, retirement rates, vacancy rates and the number of job applications flowing in.
On top of that, Teck has increased its number of apprenticed trades employees, offers leadership courses and has partnered with Simon Fraser University on business education programs for corporate employees.
Finally, the company has offered some baby boomer employees a “phased retirement” option where they work part time so the company can leverage their skills and expertise for the next generation of workers.
And Teck isn’t the only company focused on workforce issues.
Goldcorp Inc. (TSX:G), B.C.’s second largest mining company, has partnered with the University of British Columbia to study the demographic issues within its Canadian and U.S. operations.
Gerry Atkinson, Goldcorp’s senior vice-president human resources, said the study will help senior management make staffing decisions, understand the implications of demographic trends, plan for securing future resources and direct training development and succession planning.
“We will look at the issues of today and the recent past specifically for Goldcorp, then project toward the future in light of these trends and general trends in the industry,” Atkinson said.
Check out next week’s edition of Business in Vancouver for a human resources-focused mining report.