Factors Affecting Mining Labor and Job Prospect

Environmental concerns will continue to affect mining operations. Increasingly, government regulations are restricting access to land and restricting the type of mining that is performed in order to protect native plants and animals and decrease the amount of water and air pollution. As population growth expands further into the countryside, new developments compete with mine operators for land, and residents are increasing their opposition to nearby mining activities. These concerns, together with depletion of the most accessible coal deposits in the East, will result in a shift in coal production. Coal mining will increase in the Central, and particularly the Western, United States and decrease in the East. Overall, coal mining employment is expected to grow by 4 percent as rising demand for coal is coupled with limited productivity gains from more efficient and automated production operations.

Employment in mining for metal ores is expected to decline by 10 percent through 2018. Because metals are used primarily as raw materials by other industries, such as telecommunications, construction, steel, aerospace, and automobile manufacturing, the strength of the metal ore mining industry is greatly affected by the strength of these industries. Most metals are sold and bought in a world market, so demand stems not only from domestic industries but also from fast growing industries in developing countries. Demand from these countries has caused prices for many metals to increase substantially in recent years. This has caused U.S. mining companies to expand production at existing mines and restart production at some mines that were closed when low metal prices made them unprofitable. However, in the long term the potential stabilization of prices together with many of the same environmental concerns as in coal mining will cause employment in metal ore mining to decline.

Nonmetallic mineral mining should experience little change in employment. Although demand will continue to increase for crushed stone, sand, and gravel used in construction activities, advances in mining technology will require fewer workers for operation and maintenance of new mining machines. Like the metal ore mining industry, the nonmetallic mineral mining industry is influenced by the strength of the industries that use its outputs in the manufacture of their products. Nonmetallic minerals are used to make concrete and asphalt for road construction and also as materials in residential and nonresidential building construction.

Transportation costs for stone, sand, and gravel are high, so mining of these materials is spread across the country, making it not as susceptible to industry consolidation. This geographical spread, together with the small size of many mines, also causes some mines to operate only during warm months. Many workers laid off during the winter find jobs in other industries and must be replaced when the mines reopen. Jobs in nonmetallic mineral mining attract many migrant workers and those looking for summer employment.

Despite an overall decline in mining industry employment, there will be job opportunities in most occupations due to the need to replace workers who leave the industry. A large number of workers, particularly in the professional occupations, will become eligible for retirement in the coming years, and some companies may have trouble coping with the loss of many experienced workers to retirement at a time when the industry is expanding production on and machines. At the same time, past declines in employment in the industry have dissuaded potential workers from considering employment in the industry, and many colleges and universities have shut down programs designed to train professionals for work in mining. Employment opportunities will be best for those with previous experience and with technical skills, especially qualified professionals and extraction workers who have experience in oil field operations and who can work with new technology.