Lack of Qualified Workers Strains Mining Companies

The world’s mining sector faces a critical labor shortage at a time when global demand for commodities is running high — helping push up prices and limiting the supply of raw materials for products from mobile phones to jet engines and kitchen sinks.

Like oil, commodities have been in heavy demand amid hunger for consumer products world-wide and in fast-growing markets such as China and India. Both those nations are investing billions of dollars as well on airports, buildings and other infrastructure, boosting their need for iron ore, coal and other commodities.

In response, global mining giants, flush with record profits, are chasing acquisitions and rushing to boost production from the deserts of Australia to the steppes of Mongolia and jungles of Brazil.

But expansion is being slowed by a lack of qualified workers, in part because of the specialized skills required for some mining jobs and in part due to tight labor markets in which workers have other options. The problem is exacerbating a long-term challenge for mines: attracting younger workers into entering a sometimes dangerous profession, often located in rural or remote areas, that is vulnerable to economic cycles.

By Patrick Barta

From The Wall Street Journal Online

Full Story: http://www.careerjournal.com/salaryhiring/industries/energy/20050819-barta.html?cjcontent=mail

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