Industry Views: Amidst an Industry-wide Labor Shortage, How Can Companies Attract and Retain Talent? - Nevada Mining 2022

Industry Views:

Amidst an Industry-wide Labor Shortage,

How Can Companies Attract and Retain Talent?

“To be successful in the consulting business, it is essential to stay in touch with various sources of workers. For instance, we maintain close relationships with universities and assist students with training, mock interviews, and resumé workshops. We also carry out panel discussions with students to increase their understanding of the mining industry and attract them into the sector. Apart from focusing on college-level students who have already chosen their field, I believe the sector should participate in STEM programs for younger students to attract them to engineering, sciences and mining from very early on.”

Randy Miller, Vice President and Principal Engineer, Broadbent & Associates

“Our success comes from building our team from within. We maintain fair wages and bonuses. We also recognize the importance of having great medical plans, which we have been told are the best in the industry. In addition, our strength and size help retain skilled workers as they can see themselves making a career with Major Drilling. We have very little turnover of qualified positions within our company. In fact, our top 40 managers in the company have over 1,000 years of combined experience in the industry.”

Kelly Johnson, Senior Vice President of Operations – North America and Africa, Major Drilling

“Our use of automated rod-handling systems is attracting more women to our drilling teams, since operators do not have to directly handle heavy rods. This is a win-win situation, as it contributes to a more diverse workforce and allows us to draw on a much larger pool of workers. Today, we have approximately 40 female drillers worldwide, predominantly in Latin America, and our number of female drillers in the US is growing rapidly.”

Jeff Olsen, CEO, Boart Longyear

“A decade ago, Epiroc realized that finding drilling talent was going to become increasingly challenging. We thus committed completely to autonomous capabilities, and what we have achieved with this regard is incredible. We also work hard on our culture and creating a favorable working environment for our employees so that it is their choice to stay with the company for their entire career. From a diversity and inclusion standpoint, we are committed to being a company anyone can work for and loves to work for.”

Jon Torpy, President and General Manager – US, Epiroc

“The industry needs to have a serious conversation about how to get young people excited about mining. The lithium exploration industry has a responsibility not just to educate regulators and the public, but also to demonstrate all the rewarding careers available. So many people in the world right now are passionate about renewable energy, and this space has the capability to get young people more involved.”

Emily Hersh, CEO, Luna Lithium

“At Rangefront, we provide unparalleled geology and mining staffing services. Our in-house recruiters rely on a high-grade, multi-step recruiting system to filter candidates, which allows us to find the best fit for the needs of each company.”

Brian Goss, President, Rangefront Mining Services

Image courtesy of M B Louis on Unsplash

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Section 2: Production