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skIlls

Welcome to the

aspirational age

he mining and resources industry has
T never before found itself under such
heightened social and environmental
scrutiny with much of it coming from a
new workforce generation.

Graduate geologist Ryan Wade at the Carosue
Dam gold mine’s Million Dollar pit

he world’s youth are becoming in- “If we take a step back and look at to- their values.
Tcreasingly aware of ideals concerning day’s high school leaver, we’re seeing Northern Star Resources Ltd graduate
climate change, gender representation, something I’ve never seen before, it’s an geologist Ryan Wade said safety on site
decarbonisation and ethical sourcing of evolution [of values],” Hitch told Paydirt. and a healthy workplace was at the top of
minerals; and the age of industry partici- “An evolution of what motivates the his list among employer qualities.
pants is lowering each year. school leaver. Initially, they wanted travel “I like that they valued safety,” Wade
Such rapid education has only become and adventure…then it became about said of his new employer. “And I’ve also
possible through permeating digital plat- the money and lifestyle, the FIFO con- seen a good emphasis on mental wellbe-
forms such as YouTube, TikTok, Insta- cept and working half a year. Now we’re ing. Northern Star offers a lot of support
gram, Twitter, Facebook and more; a seeing something completely different, for anyone that is struggling. I think the
movement made apparent in 2019 when what I call the ‘aspirational leaver’. industry as a whole is promoting good
crowds of high school students garnered “This is the leaver that’s interested in mental health programmes and getting
widespread attention for unified and changing the world. They’re informed rid of the existing stigma.
worldwide protests demanding govern- like no other and they’re environmentally “The initiatives changing workplaces
ment intervention into climate change. aware; thank you Greta. They’re acutely for the better has already started taking
Many attributed the protests to a push aware that we’re in trouble and they want place, and it’s up to us as graduates, and
from young activist Greta Thunberg and to be part of the solution. It’s really cool the ones after us, to keep implementing
her far-reaching channels across social to watch.” those changes and create a better work-
media. But environmentalism isn’t the only is- place environment for everyone.
Western Australian School of Mines sue at the forefront for future workers. “The industry does need to be rec-
(WASM) head of school for minerals, en- Students graduating from institutions ognised for the strides it has made in
ergy and chemical engineering Michael such as WASM are becoming more combatting other issues like sexism, but
Hitch says future resource workers are aware of their rights as employees and there is still room for improvement. An
adopting advanced and progressive val- are seeking employers who provide safer ideal world is where none of that behav-
ues before they even leave high school. and more welcoming workplaces that fit iour is taking place. It is good to see peo-

Page 56 FeBRUaRY 2022 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT