Published in the December 2004 American Longwall Magazine

Many factors are impinging on the ability of mines to attract and retain staff, including a reduction in training programs and changing expectations among young people about the workplace. However, the most pressing issue for the coal industry is an aging workforce - many workers are already busy planning their retirements.

The number of coal miners nationwide dropped from 159,777 in 1990 to 99,358 at the end of 2003, according to the Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).

About 50% of the mining workforce is over 45 years old and it is estimated that, within the next five to seven years, about 50% of the underground coal mining workforce will retire. The National Mining Association (NMA) said the median age of the mining workforce is rising more rapidly than that of the overall US civilian labor force.

From the late 1980s until about 2000 options for workers in the industry were limited: few new mines were opening and those that were employed experienced miners. Coal mining companies were able to draw from the pool of unemployed workers made available through industry shrinkage and consolidation. This is no longer the case.

In addition, the cyclical nature of the mining industry resulted in the geographic relocation of thousands of previously employed workers.

Major coal mining company Massey Energy recently highlighted the shortage of labor in Central Appalachia as its most challenging business issue. Reporting on the company’s third quarter results in October, Massey chief Don Blankenship said a decrease in demand for labor was not expected as coal demand seemed solid for the foreseeable future.

The company currently has 384 apprentice miners on its books, 200 of whom were hired during the third quarter, but these workers are “understandably of limited productive use as they proceed through the initial training process,” the company said.

So desperate is the company to stabilize its workforce that in July it reportedly sent airplanes with banners promising big money and better benefits over the Myrtle Beach resort where West Virginia miners were vacationing.

The company's total workforce at September 30 increased 15% to 4916 from 4287 at the end of September 2003, and compared with 4786 at the end of the second quarter. The company estimated the total additional cost in the quarter due to the hiring and training of miners was about $6 million.

"High turnover continues to hamper our efforts to build an experienced workforce," Blankenship said. "While hiring and training costs have continued to increase markedly, we expect to ultimately realize a substantial benefit from these new miners."

The problem is also impacting on equipment manufacturers who lose staff to valuable customers. One OEM estimated it had lost 20-25% of its workforce to mines in the past few years.

“The mines are desperate for experienced people, however, often our service people do not have all the certifications to work every day underground for a coal company, so that can be a drawback. But most of our service people worked full time at the mines at one time or another,” the supplier said.

While the lack of skilled workers is recognized as a serious and worsening problem for mine operators, it also presents opportunities for the OE supplier, for example, to provide full maintenance contracts where the supplier employs and deploys the maintenance force.

The problem also opens up opportunities for suppliers that provide the most reliable equipment, the simplest user interfaces and the most comprehensive diagnostic tools; all of which can mitigate a skills shortage.

Of course, the coal industry and equipment suppliers have 'exchanged' employees for almost as long as the industries have existed, sometimes driven by salary expectations but frequently as a result of a person’s desire to change from a mine-based position to a service role with different opportunities. The reverse is also true where someone may be tired of anti-social call-out hours and the uncertainty of a mobile lifestyle.

As one supplier put it: “The mines are better for a family man, to be in one spot and home at night. The money can be a little better at the mines, but we have a little better benefits and easier working conditions - some easy days and some tough days.”

One OEM offered a variety of solutions including local training programs, vendor maintenance programs and more reliable, self-diagnostic equipment.

For some suppliers, the training ground for new field service people is the company’s own manufacturing and repair workshops.

“It's a step up in salary, and they are used to working on the equipment. It can leave a void in the manufacturing facility, but that is easier to fill with new people than the field service people,” a supplier said.

Meanwhile, the PacifiCorp subsidiary, Interwest Mining Company, reported few problems in recruiting 20 employees for the first continuous miner section required to establish a new longwall mine in Wyoming by 2006.

“The only real problem that we experience like most other operators is securing top maintenance people and they are currently in the highest demand,” said director, technical services & project development for Interwest Mining Company, Carl Pollastro.

After the first 10 were recruited the company was able to rely on word of mouth to fill the remaining 10 positions – a strategy it will pursue as manning needs increase.

Current employees will be asked to recommend suitable applicants allowing PacifiCorp to build a file of top recruits that can be hired at the appropriate time.

“Our thoughts certainly are good people recommend other good people and hopefully the operation will be a real selling feature as word of mouth spreads.”

A new mine with a long future is clearly an attractive proposition to a career coal miner who wants to get in on the ground floor – a drawcard mature operations do not have.

Earlier in the year Bruce Watzman, vice president for safety, health and human resources at the NMA, told...click here to read on.