The International Mining and Resources Conference and Expo (IMARC) this week showcased the importance of nurturing future talent for the skilled workforce needed for the mining and resources industry through the NextGen program.
IMARC’s NextGen program engages students of all educational levels, universities, and organisations in partnership with organisations’ including Australian Resources & Energy Employer Association, CoRE Learning Foundation, Australian Earth Science Education, and the New South Wales Minerals Council.
The program is designed to inspire the future workforce, facilitate career pathways, and promote talent retention within the mining and resources sector.
Speaking to Mining.com.au, Suzy Urbaniak, co-founder of CoRE Learning Foundation, says the organisation’s role is centred around the primary and secondary educational sector related to creating awareness of improved earth science education, as well as its connection to resource industry careers.
“If we don’t have a sustainable workforce, we are not able to innovate because all our energy is then based on finding people to fill the jobs rather than having the people there and using their skills and diversity of talents to actually innovate and create better and more sustainable solutions,” she says.
In April 2024, industry data showed the employee value proposition in mining had been deteriorating, with demand outstripping the supply of mining talent, as reported by McKinsey & Company.
According to the Australian Government’s Jobs and Skills Australia official 2024 occupation shortage list from October 2024, mining is ranked second in facing acute shortage pressures.
Alongside construction, and health care and social assistance, mining has endured shortage pressures of 51% to 72% since 2022.
Urbaniak says that these shortage pressures can form a “vicious cycle,” and the solution starts with education.
“That is where the chasm is, because it is not in our curriculum,” she says.
“It is not demonstrated how mining is critical and necessary to sustain our lives. That is the big missing piece.
“People get into their cars, people open their refrigerators, walk up escalators into buildings and use lights, yet they don’t understand that it all comes from rock.”
Urbaniak emphasises the urgent need to integrate mining and resource education into early schooling, as failing to do so could hinder future learning and limit career opportunities in the industry.
“For the industry, we are a solution in this space,” she says.
“We work with educators, because if we work with the educators to understand how their science and resource industry careers relate to their curriculum, then they are going to convey that message.
“So that is the beginning of the awareness campaign, that we are a resource for doing.”
During the three-day conference held in Sydney, CoRE has been communicating the purpose of what the organisation does and how it is a solution for the industry.
CoRE is a not-for-profit organisation responsible for overseeing its learning model and its Gamifying Earth Science initiative. The organisation aims to improve levels of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) engagement, motivation, and enrolment for students.
However, Urbaniak notes that organisations like CoRE need “more backing from the government.”
“The governments talk about all these skills shortages and all that, but they are not looking at what is being done through philanthropy and through not-for-profits to mitigate this.”
IMARC was held from 29-31 October 2024 at the International Convention and Exhibition Centre. It is considered Australia’s ‘largest’ mining event, welcoming more than 9,000 delegates from around the world to connect with global mining executives with technology, finance, and the future.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: CoRE
