Van Zorbas is a partner in Deloitte Canada’s Human Capital practice. He can be reached at 403-503-1460 and vzorbas@deloitte.ca
This column is from the February/March 2011 issue of the Canadian Mining Journal, Canada’s first mining publication.
Aging workforces. Looming waves of retirement. An inability to attract new talent to the field. In recent years, demographic trends like these have plagued the mining industry—and the situation only promises to get worse. According to the Mining Industry Human Resources Council (MIHRC), by 2020, over 60,000 Canadian mining employees will retire. To maintain current levels of production, that means the industry will need an additional labour force of 100,000 people(1). And that doesn’t take into account the higher levels of production likely required to meet escalating global demand for commodities.
Already, labour shortages are creating untenable situations for mining companies. In western Australia, for instance, some companies fly employees thousands of miles to their workplace. Aside from the financial and logistical challenges this entails, this heightened level of worker mobility puts bargaining power squarely in the hands of skilled talent. Critically, this comes at a time when the mining industry is experiencing a serious talent gap. Due to low participation in the industry over the past several decades, many mining companies lack experienced middle managers.
The recent Deloitte report, “Empower your talent: Building a high-performance organization,” details approaches for surviving this talent gap. Here are some strategies to consider as you structure your own talent management program.