From the Assistant Director’s Desk | Pat Joyce

TRAINING OUR FUTURE WORKFORCE

Hey, we’re all still standing! What was that all about last year? Well, the researchers, the politicians, the media and certainly all of us are rightly trying to figure out that answer. What really happened and why did it have such a tremendous effect on our daily routine, in our work, school and home lives? And ultimately, what affect has it had on us as individuals as well as our workplace, our schools and communities. Face it. Most of us are trying to remember what “normal” looked like a mere 18 months ago and wondering if we can ever recover it. Routine: Some people thrive on a solid, predictable expectation of their daily interactions. Others on the other hand like to mix it up. Keep it interesting. The world needs all types. This natural characteristic may drive our individual life stories more directly than we realize. While it is somewhat rarer than it used to be, some people stay in the same job skill or company the majority of their life. While being on a constant move to new jobs and industries has become the norm for more recent generations. So what? Well, this is what. In this big world there is an undeniable truth. We all need each other’s skills to build and maintain the world we live in. But you would be surprised how many people do not recognize that fact. They are more content to operate in their own cocoon.

This few last years I have become more involved in several career and technical education groups in Wyoming. This area of education intrigues me as I see it as the sector from which our mining workforce will emerge. Interestingly enough I have found both kinds of personality types in this group as well. Funny how that happened. As an industry advisor to the Wyoming Perkins V Advisory Council, I traveled the state with other industry and department of education team members to visit with over 80 guidance counselors around the state. I came away with two observations that have not left me. One, the majority of the counselors did not have any idea what jobs existed in our mines and had no interest in learning about it because they already knew for a fact that those jobs are dangerous and the mines are all going to close soon. The second thing they did not recognize was that the skills hired in the mines are not only diverse they are most likely transferrable to other industries (in the likely event you’re the non-routine type.) Well. That’s incorrect. And thus, we have a job to do. We as the mining industry and the WMA have a story to tell. We have relationships to build and a responsibility to the industry and the state of Wyoming to work in partnership with other’s worlds to bring along the next generations to be those routine and not so routine workers who will make mining their commitment and bring the minerals to all the world in whatever form they eventually take that will make this world grow and thrive beyond today. And beyond Covid or it’s nasty cousins. In the last couple of years, I have been invited to serve on the, UW CTE Teacher Education Task Force, the Wyoming Association of Career and Technical (WACTE) Advisory Council, the Wyoming SkillsUSA Board of Directors and the Perkins V Industry Advisory Council. This is a perfect combination of educational work groups that determine the next training opportunities of our future workforce.

Here’s a nugget: In the WACTE and Perkins V meetings we are informed that the average age of CTE teachers in Wyoming is now 57. Does anyone see retirement coming their way? And guess what? There is slim to none new graduates coming up behind them? In a WACTE meeting in Buffalo a few weeks ago we were told by two teachers, they have been informed by their superintendents that when they retire their school boards have decided “not to replace them.” As I told the CTE teachers in that meeting: “As an industry rep, that scares the hell out of me!” Routine. Yes. We need to support the routine of training our future workforce. Not the routine of training them in outdated methods, but in up to date, futuristic methods. Methods that will meet our needs in the future of mining. That will meet the needs of other industries. We need to support the training of those who train and those who learn the trades. We need to support those who spread the word and introduce the mining industry to the young minds who will someday take the reins and deliver the minerals to the rest of the world to make it a far richer and dynamic place to live and do business.

I am in search of key interested individuals in our mines and supply and service businesses that either already work with or would be willing to work with these groups to establish the relationships, contribute technical support and even teach a class or two along the way. WMA has established the Workforce-Education committee to explore and support this area in our multi-faceted arena of mining. Won’t you join us? Please reach out to me and let’s have a visit about the possibilities. New ideas wanted.

BY: PAT JOYCE

Assistant Director Wyoming Mining Association