Workers upskill for new digital jobs

Workers from outside the mining industry are upskilling to meet demand, as jobs in the industry are forecast to be reshaped by digital technologies.

Bloomfield’s Educators Meets Industry program brings school careers counsellors onsite so they can see the range of occupations in action

Workers from outside the mining industry are upskilling to meet demand, as jobs in the industry are forecast to be reshaped by digital technologies.

Mining companies have joined forces with vocational training centres to offer training with industry-specific skills, aiming to bridge the gap for professionals in defence, construction, energy, oil and gas, and agriculture.

Minerals Council of Australia chief executive Tania Constable says skills including data analytics, change management and digital capability will be required to drive the industry.

“It’s really important our industry keeps pace with those changing skills,” she says.

“We know we’re well equipped and we are preparing now for that change to occur.”

She says skilled workers from industries that use a similar skillset can transition across to mining when there is demand.

“What we are looking at is how we can work with some of those other industries — such as defence, manufacturing, construction — they’re industries that map well to mining in terms of those broader skills,” Constable says.

“Because different industries have different cycles where we’re seeing a shortage of skills in our industry at a particular time there might be an opportunity to draw from other industries if they are in a downturn and vice versa.”

Whitehaven Coal’s Upskill Program helps people with non-mining experience and qualifications gain mining skills through vocational training.

Together with Tamworth TAFE, Whitehaven was aimed at gaining the skilled workers required for their mine ramp-up.

Maules Creek Mine maintenance manager Mark Irwin says Whitehaven helps workers do the workplace component, and assists with fees.

“We wanted to welcome people from non-mining backgrounds, such as agricultural or road truck mechanics, but also find a way to fill in the gaps if there were skills or training modules specific to mining required,” Irwin said in a statement.

Likewise, BHP has developed the FutureFit Academy in conjunction with CQ University and Perth’s North Metropolitan TAFE in a bid to address the ongoing trades-skills shortages.

The program has so far inducted 250 apprentices and trainees for heavy diesel fitters and mechanical fitters to its campuses at BHP warehouse and repair facilities in Mackay and Welshpool.

Announcing the program, BHP’s vice president operations services Mark Swinnerton said the program — which can be scaled up over time in line with business needs — would provide workers who are skilled, competent and job ready.

“We are bringing the learning to the learner through real-life workshops and virtual reality simulation technology to provide robust, supported and intensive training in a safe, controlled and inclusive environment,” Swinnerton said in a statement.

‘The new approach to training and employment opens the door to a more diverse talent pool, especially those from non-mining backgrounds’

— Mark Swinnerton, BHP vice president operating services

Industry representatives are also encouraging schools to learn more, to encourage young people into mining careers.

Bloomfield chief corporate services officer Renata Roberts says their Educators Meets Industry program — that they hope to restart next year after a COVID-related break this year — brings school career counsellors onsite for five days so they can see the range of occupations in action.

“They were quite surprised at the diversity of jobs that we have available,” she says. “It is quite an eye opener to see it in action.”

Upskilling across the 250,000-strong mining workforce will be necessary to keep up with the changing requirements of the contemporary industry, which is being driven by advances in technology and digitisation.

An Ernest & Young report, commissioned by the Minerals Council of Australia in 2018, found three out of four mining jobs of the future would be “redesigned” by technological advances.

“Further analysis of the five most common occupation groupings in the industry (comprising 48 per cent of the workforce) indicate that these occupations are likely to be redesigned or enhanced, rather than automated,” the report said.

“This analysis suggests that the dominant response required of the sector will be to support the workforce through contemporary training/education offerings, and strategic workforce planning to benefit from drivers of change shaping the future of work.

“The minerals industry will require a strategic, proactive and creative response to the future of work.”

Part of the future demand is being met through the Mining Skills Organisation Pilot, an industry-led initiative funded by the Australian government within its $585m Delivering Skills for Today and Tomorrow package.

It has set its sights on creating 1000 additional apprenticeships and modernising how skilled tradespeople are educated and trained, embedding automation training into existing education and applying of digital technologies, and establishing a mining fundamentals skill set.

It comes as the industry has maintained its demand for jobs, despite downturns across the economy.

An analysis of job ads for the industry from CoverCard to May showed mining and minerals-related job ads increased relative to other industries in Queensland and Western Australia.

There were 8785 job ads in the quarter, compared to the previous non-COVID-related quarter with 9242. It was the smallest quarterly number of ads since 2016, but the report found “mining job advertisements have proven resilient through the pandemic, relative to the significantly larger falls experienced in other sectors”.

But it showed those in trades and skilled roles were more likely to be recruited than professionals or corporate positions, with more than one in five jobs also seeking a fly-in, fly-out component.

Mining engineers continue to be in demand, as are geophysicists and underground mine geologists.

An overview from the Australian government’s Department of Skills found demand for geologists and geophysicists is strong, but new graduate numbers are falling.

“In the year to February 2019, internet vacancies for geologists and geophysicists increased by 31.9 per cent, well above the average for all occupations,” the labour report says. “Employment for these occupations is projected to grow by 21.6 per cent in the five years to May 2023.”