Title: Attracting young people to the mining industry: six recommendations
Authors: Jan Johansson; Bo Johansson; Joel Lööw; Magnus Nygren; Lena Abrahamsson
Addresses: Division of Human Work Science, Luleå University of Technology, SE-971 87 Luleå, Sweden ' Division of Human Work Science, Luleå University of Technology, SE-971 87 Luleå, Sweden ' Division of Human Work Science, Luleå University of Technology, SE-971 87 Luleå, Sweden ' Division of Human Work Science, Luleå University of Technology, SE-971 87 Luleå, Sweden ' Division of Human Work Science, Luleå University of Technology, SE-971 87 Luleå, Sweden
Abstract: The present workforce in the mining industry is ageing, and mining companies have difficulties recruiting young people who are not particularly interested in working in the industry. Simultaneously, mining companies tend to rely on contractors that offer volume flexibility and expertise, often in a combination that is economically appealing. This makes recruitment and development of the whole of the mining workforce complex. To recruit the right workforce, mining companies and their contractors need to cooperate and improve their knowledge about both attractive and repelling work features so that they can make wiser strategic decisions based on facts. On the basis of a Swedish context, we discuss different aspects of attractive workplaces and summarise our 'lessons learned' in six recommendations dealing with general health and safety issues, work organisation, competence development, gender equality, social responsibility and outsourcing.
Keywords: mining; attractive workplace; automation; health; safety; risk; work environment; corporate social responsibility.
DOI: 10.1504/IJMME.2018.091967
International Journal of Mining and Mineral Engineering, 2018 Vol.9 No.2, pp.94 - 108
Received: 18 Apr 2017
Accepted: 23 Sep 2017
Published online: 23 May 2018 *