Mining companies reaffirm their commitment to regional employability project

The milestone seeks to strengthen partnerships with mining companies that have supported the project since its inception with the vision of strengthening and promoting employment and regional human capital. The partnerships aim to make the Empleo Region regional employability project a key platform for building stronger, more effective connections between labor supply and demand and improving labor market access.

In a public-private effort, the Empleo Regional program seeks to reduce commuting, which continues to rise as job offers in the region fall. Universidad Católica del Norte Rector Dr. Rodrigo Alda commented, “[The signing] is a milestone that lends continuity to a project dating back to 2020. The employment platform connects labor supply and demand while generating data for the creation of public policy.”

Antofagasta’s Regional Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare, Camila Cortés, emphasized the program’s objective of filling jobs with local candidates. She also highlighted the importance of bringing together the regional entities that create most of the important jobs in collaboration with academia to research and improve the labor force in both the public and private sectors.

“We must continue working together to reduce unemployment and commuting figures and continuously improve human capital in the Antofagasta region. We are pleased that the signatory companies have expressed their commitment to continuing the program, which is so important to regional development for all the inhabitants of the Antofagasta region,” said Cortés.

Companies

The companies that reaffirmed their support by participating in the signing were SQM, BHP, Antofagasta Minerals through Minera Zaldívar and Lomas Bayas, a Glencore company.

“We firmly believe in collaboration. Our commitment focuses on actively participating and communicating the benefits of the platform to all the companies in our production chain. We want to expand opportunity through the participation of the region’s entire industry,” said Pablo Carvallo, General Manager of Minera Lomas Bayas, a Glencore company.

SQM Iodine and Plant Nutrition’s Corporate Affairs Manager, Pablo Pisani, remarked, “As a company, we are renewing our commitment to regional employment, which means that we are very much aligned with the region’s expectations for SQM and local employment. We are from the north. We have historical operations in the communities, and we realize we need to make ongoing efforts to promote local hiring. This platform does a very good job of that.”

Felipe Alveal, Antofagasta Minerals’ Northern Public Affairs Manager, said: “We are extremely pleased to be able to participate in the Empleo Region project. We have done so from its very beginning because we understand the value of promoting beneficial interaction between job seekers and the companies that create employment. Not only that, we are also totally committed to training human capital.”

Cristóbal Marshall, Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Escondida BHP, commented, “The regional employability plan will continue to help us identify local talent and contribute to improving regional employment statistics. BHP work teams have a high percentage of local workers, which has contributed to gender balance, allowing us to prove that more diverse teams are safer, more productive teams. This motivates us to work with the industry, academia and the region of Antofagasta on this collaborative challenge of moving toward a region with more opportunities.”