On April 12th of 2013and as part of the CESCO Week, the Second Version of the studies «Workforce of Large-Scale Chilean Mining Industry» and «Framework for Mining Qualifications» was released. These are a result of an initiative of the Consejo Competencias Mineras (CCM or Mining Competence Counsel) that is part of the Consejo Minero (Mining Counsel) and were prepared by INNOVUM of Fundación Chile.
The purpose of the first study is to assessthe human capital gaps that large-scale copper, gold and silver mining initiatives in Chile will have to face as a result of the investments projected for the coming years.
The second study is a document that seeks to balance the existing training offer and the skills required by the industry, in consideration to the demanded quantity and quality.
For the preparation of this work, 11 large mining companies and 20 contractors participated. This provided detailed information in regards to their current staff.
The information gathered by the «Workforce of Large-Scale Chilean Mining Industry» confirms that -during the coming years- there will be a significant demand for qualified human resources of 37,638 people, including the replacement of 12,373 people that will reach a potential retirement age.
This represents a 24.5% increase in relation to the staff employed in the current principal value chain (both internal and outsourced to providers). Although this figure is lower than the one projected by the First version of this study (published in 2012), the amount exceeds the projected flow of people expected to be trained and graduated from educational programs in their different levels and form, so it is [this issue]still a crucial challenge for the mining industry, and also represents significant opportunities for those who train themselves according to what the industry demands.
The «Qualifications Framework» is a powerful tool, unprecedented in Chile. Never before an industry has -as a whole- established and openly shared the projected needs of the future training of its professionals and technicians by indicating the knowledge, skills and expected application contexts for different job profiles.
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