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Gogilis, a 34-year-old mother of two, was a dental assistant until last May. Now shedrives a mammoth dump truck at one of Rio Tinto's iron ore mines, hauling 230 tonnesof rock and dirt across the scorching Pilbara region in Australia's outback.
"They need the bodies," she said. "And so if there's a body, they don't care if it'smale or female as long as it can drive the truck."
From the pits of Australia to the coalfields of Wyoming, mining companies like RioTinto are hunting for people to address a dire shortage of workers. A decade ago,with prices slumping, the sense of mining as a sunset industry left it with aworkforce with grey hair under its hard hats. But these days, the industry isstruggling to meet burgeoning global demand for iron, copper, and other keycommodities.
Now, mothers like Gogilis, former math teachers, and even Detroit car workers arebeing lured into mining by impressive salaries, housing, and educational benefits,helping to transform mining from what was once a dead-end job into an avenue ofadvancement.
"We're looking at factors like remuneration, but more importantly we're looking atthe softer side," said Russell King, who leads the business development group atAnglo American, the London-based mining giant. "We're making sure people feelloved."
Skills shortages have become a common feature of the global economy, particularly inageing countries. Nurses are scarce; engineers, too. What makes the miningindustry's shortages so severe is that the commodities boom caught it more or lessby surprise.
"The industry was suffering a depression, and the best and brightest didn't join,"said Marcus Randolph, the chief organisation development officer at BHP Billiton,the world's largest mining company.
As commodity prices languished, students pursued better-paying careers elsewhere.Mining schools shrank. The average age of a production worker in mining crept up to50.Then came the China economic boom, and India's. The Minerals Council of Australia,in a recent report, estimated that by 2015 Australia alone would need 70,000employees on top of the 120,000 it has now to keep up with demand.
Mining recruiters say that industry salaries have climbed 20 per cent in the lasttwo years. Yet mines are so short of workers that projects are being delayed asproduction costs rise.Even the recent slide in commodities prices has failed to dent the boom.The shortage is hastening the transformation of the industry."Ten years ago, we had one of the worst industrial safety records in Australia,"said Mitchell Hooke, chief executive of the Minerals Council of Australia. "Today weare the best."Yet the old image endures. "Mining?" said Russ Eason, who worked in Michigan'sauto parts industry for 30 years until he was laid off in 2005 at the age of 58."That was guys with little hats and little carbide lamps on their heads walkingaround with picks chipping away."At a local job fair, Eason stopped at the booth of P&H Mining Equipment, whichmakes the giant shovels used in mines. Workers like Eason with compatible skillsfrom auto factories and other industries are highly coveted by mining companies.Eason now works for one of P&H's subsidiaries in Wyoming's coal country.With modernisation has come increasing mechanisation. Many mining workersnowadays need education levels and skills more common to urban white-collarprofessionals." You can't just come out of the paddock and pick up a pick and shovel and go downin the mine," Hooke said.That need for higher skills makes life even harder for mining companies that areventuring further afield in search of ore.Because of the voracious demand for their output, mines are kept running 24 hoursa day. Miners typically work 12-hour shifts, usually for two weeks straight,followed by a week off. To coax miners to such remote sites, the industry hasdeveloped what is called the fly-in, fly-out job, in which the company fliesemployees to the mine and back out again when their shift is over.That kind of schedule suits Brian Okely, a 42-year-old from Western Australia.Okely spent 12 years as a telephone repairman until he learned that he could doublehis pay in mining. In November, Okely started repairing trucks at one of Rio'sPilbara mines. Best of all, he said, he gets a full week off to spend quality timewith his wife and three children. "Family's more important than money," he said.Still, attrition and divorce rates among miners remain high. A study last year byMacquarie Research and the Australasian Institute of Mining found turnover amongmine workers was as high as 25 per cent. "They work long hours and they need peoplewho are willing to travel a lot," said Bruce Elliott, who recruits for the resourcesindustry at Korn/Ferry in Sydney. "Young people will do it out of university. Butthen they get to a point where they say 'I don't want to travel now'."So companies are reaching out to young graduates like Avischen Moodley, a SouthAfrican who was planning to work for an insurance company after earning hisactuarial degree until Anglo American lured him with the promise of rotating throughthree jobs on a new continent over five years.Mining companies also offer scholarships to potential employees. Anglo American,for example, is paying to put 1000 South Africans through universities this year.Immigration is another solution. Australia is creating new visas for temporaryworkers, enabling companies to recruit from countries like the Philippines.Few immigrants are likely to want to settle in a place like the Pilbara, wheresummer temperatures routinely rise above 46 degrees. Ultimately, many companies say,the challenge is to train workers from communities around the mines. In the Pilbara,that means finding workers among local Aborigines. Rio Tinto offers courses teachingbasic literacy, part of its aim to raise the Aboriginal portion of its workforce to15 per cent.Until it does, the company does its best to make conditions acceptable toimported workers like Anthony Dekuyer, who left his job as a maths teacher in Perthlast year at the age of 48 to start driving a truck for Rio Tinto. While the regionmay be bleak, Dekuyer's accommodations at the mine sound more like a desert resort."It's quite well fitted out," he said. In addition to the gym and tennis courts,there is a 25-metre pool, he said. The rooms are air-conditioned, with free phonesand internet access. Better still, Dekuyer's wife works for the mine, so the two flyback and forth to work together from their home in Perth.Women have become especially sought-after in the once macho world of mining,particularly as truck drivers like Gogilis. Since they tend to drive the big truckswith a gentler touch, they exert less wear and tear on the tyres, which are also inshort supply. The number of women in Rio's ranks has risen from just over 11 percent in 2000 to 15 per cent.Rio offers working mothers flexible schedules so they can go home to theirchildren at night. Gogilis now alternates six days on and six days off to spend timewith her daughters, age 15 and 10."I'm setting an example that as a girl you don't have to do the mainstreamthing," she said.Even the recent slide in commodities prices has failed to dent the boom.The shortage is hastening the transformation of the industry.
"Ten years ago, we had one of the worst industrial safety records in Australia,"said Mitchell Hooke, chief executive of the Minerals Council of Australia. "Today weare the best."Yet the old image endures. "Mining?" said Russ Eason, who worked in Michigan's autoparts industry for 30 years until he was laid off in 2005 at the age of 58. "Thatwas guys with little hats and little carbide lamps on their heads walking aroundwith picks chipping away."
At a local job fair, Eason stopped at the booth of P&H Mining Equipment, which makesthe giant shovels used in mines. Workers like Eason with compatible skills from autofactories and other industries are highly coveted by mining companies. Eason nowworks for one of P&H's subsidiaries in Wyoming's coal country.
With modernisation has come increasing mechanisation. Many mining workers nowadaysneed education levels and skills more common to urban white-collar professionals.
"You can't just come out of the paddock and pick up a pick and shovel and go down inthe mine," Hooke said.
That need for higher skills makes life even harder for mining companies that areventuring further afield in search of ore.
Because of the voracious demand for their output, mines are kept running 24 hours aday. Miners typically work 12-hour shifts, usually for two weeks straight, followedby a week off. To coax miners to such remote sites, the industry has developed whatis called the fly-in, fly-out job, in which the company flies employees to the mineand back out again when their shift is over.That kind of schedule suits Brian Okely, a 42-year-old from Western Australia. Okelyspent 12 years as a telephone repairman until he learned that he could double hispay in mining. In November, Okely started repairing trucks at one of Rio's Pilbaramines. Best of all, he said, he gets a full week off to spend quality time with hiswife and three children. "Family's more important than money," he said.
Still, attrition and divorce rates among miners remain high. A study last year byMacquarie Research and the Australasian Institute of Mining found turnover amongmine workers was as high as 25 per cent. "They work long hours and they need peoplewho are willing to travel a lot," said Bruce Elliott, who recruits for the resourcesindustry at Korn/Ferry in Sydney. "Young people will do it out of university. Butthen they get to a point where they say 'I don't want to travel now'."So companies are reaching out to young graduates like Avischen Moodley, a SouthAfrican who was planning to work for an insurance company after earning hisactuarial degree until Anglo American lured him with the promise of rotating throughthree jobs on a new continent over five years.Mining companies also offer scholarships to potential employees. Anglo American,for example, is paying to put 1000 South Africans through universities this year.Immigration is another solution. Australia is creating new visas for temporaryworkers, enabling companies to recruit from countries like the Philippines.Few immigrants are likely to want to settle in a place like the Pilbara, wheresummer temperatures routinely rise above 46 degrees. Ultimately, many companies say,the challenge is to train workers from communities around the mines. In the Pilbara,that means finding workers among local Aborigines. Rio Tinto offers courses teachingbasic literacy, part of its aim to raise the Aboriginal portion of its workforce to15 per cent.Until it does, the company does its best to make conditions acceptable toimported workers like Anthony Dekuyer, who left his job as a maths teacher in Perthlast year at the age of 48 to start driving a truck for Rio Tinto. While the regionmay be bleak, Dekuyer's accommodations at the mine sound more like a desert resort."It's quite well fitted out," he said. In addition to the gym and tennis courts,there is a 25-metre pool, he said. The rooms are air-conditioned, with free phonesand internet access. Better still, Dekuyer's wife works for the mine, so the two flyback and forth to work together from their home in Perth.Women have become especially sought-after in the once macho world of mining,particularly as truck drivers like Gogilis. Since they tend to drive the big truckswith a gentler touch, they exert less wear and tear on the tyres, which are also inshort supply. The number of women in Rio's ranks has risen from just over 11 percent in 2000 to 15 per cent.Rio offers working mothers flexible schedules so they can go home to theirchildren at night. Gogilis now alternates six days on and six days off to spend timewith her daughters, age 15 and 10."I'm setting an example that as a girl you don't have to do the mainstreamthing," she said.So companies are reaching out to young graduates like Avischen Moodley, a SouthAfrican who was planning to work for an insurance company after earning hisactuarial degree until Anglo American lured him with the promise of rotating throughthree jobs on a new continent over five years.
Mining companies also offer scholarships to potential employees. Anglo American, forexample, is paying to put 1000 South Africans through universities this year.
Immigration is another solution. Australia is creating new visas for temporaryworkers, enabling companies to recruit from countries like the Philippines.
Few immigrants are likely to want to settle in a place like the Pilbara, wheresummer temperatures routinely rise above 46 degrees. Ultimately, many companies say,the challenge is to train workers from communities around the mines. In the Pilbara,that means finding workers among local Aborigines. Rio Tinto offers courses teachingbasic literacy, part of its aim to raise the Aboriginal portion of its workforce to15 per cent.
Until it does, the company does its best to make conditions acceptable to importedworkers like Anthony Dekuyer, who left his job as a maths teacher in Perth last yearat the age of 48 to start driving a truck for Rio Tinto. While the region may bebleak, Dekuyer's accommodations at the mine sound more like a desert resort.
"It's quite well fitted out," he said. In addition to the gym and tennis courts,there is a 25-metre pool, he said. The rooms are air-conditioned, with free phonesand internet access. Better still, Dekuyer's wife works for the mine, so the two flyback and forth to work together from their home in Perth.
Women have become especially sought-after in the once macho world of mining,particularly as truck drivers like Gogilis. Since they tend to drive the big truckswith a gentler touch, they exert less wear and tear on the tyres, which are also inshort supply. The number of women in Rio's ranks has risen from just over 11 percent in 2000 to 15 per cent.
Rio offers working mothers flexible schedules so they can go home to their childrenat night. Gogilis now alternates six days on and six days off to spend time with herdaughters, age 15 and 10.
"I'm setting an example that as a girl you don't have to do the mainstream thing,"she said.
Wayne Arnold and Heather Timmons, smh.com.au
