Over 1,000 mining jobs axed

Several mining companies axe jobs in order to cut costs.

Ryan Newman (TMFNewmy)

Ryan Newman (CFA) is the Director of Research of The Motley Fool Australia, and Portfolio Manager for the Pro and North Star services. Ryan’s interest in investing and stocks began at a young. His journey with The Motley Fool started first as a member but when the company first came to Australia he joined the team as one of our writers. Recognising his investing talent and passion, it wasn’t long before he was approached to join the investing team as a research analyst on Pro. Ryan is passionate about learning and continual development. He earned his Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation in 2022, and has completed his Bachelor of Accounting and his Graduate Certificate of Corporate Finance. Ryan loves spending time with his young family as well as non-fiction reading, catching the latest movies and following his sports team, the St Kilda Saints (AFL).

Published June 28, 2013 11:07 am AEST

The outlook on the future of the mining industry has become even bleaker this week, as global miner GlencoreXstrata's decision to axe workers took this week's toll to more than 1,000 jobs lost in the industry.

Citing weak coal prices and higher mining costs as well as the Australian dollar remaining high, Glencore has axed a total of 450 jobs between its Newlands and Oaky Creek mines, located in Queensland. As quoted in The Australian Financial Review, the company said in a statement that "this is a difficult decision but one that needs to be taken in the current challenging economic conditions".

Joining Glencore this week in axing workers across the industry have been some of Australia's largest miners, such as Newcrest Mining (ASX: NCM) – which will trim jobs from its Lihir mine and Brisbane office as the company continues to struggle to find its feet – as well as Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) and BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP). Forty employees in Rio Tinto's iron ore division were affected as the company announced positions would be forced to move or be made redundant, whilst 30 workers received similar news in BHP's Energy Coal division.

Foolish takeaway

Although the news is terrible for the unfortunate employees, mining companies have been under immense pressure to cut operating costs and sell off non-core assets in order to regain long-term sustainability.

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Motley Fool contributor Ryan Newman does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this article.

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