Big miners cut workers

MINING giant Rio Tinto shed close to 4000 workers across its global operations last year with its Australian workforce taking the biggest hit.

Rio’s workforce was cut by 3909 to 51,029 people during 2016, its annual report shows.

Worker numbers at its Australian operations fell by 1650, or 42 per cent of its total decline, to 21,338.

The tally does not include contractors who have also come under heavy pressure in recent years as mining prices have fallen from historic peaks and major expansion projects have been completed.

“The decline in employee numbers is related to the com- pletion of large-scale project developments, business divestments and in response to volatile commodity markets,” Rio said in a statement.

Virtually all of Rio’s operations came under pressure except Mongolia, where it is developing a major underground copper mine, and Singapore where it operates a controversial marketing hub under scrutiny from the Australian Taxation Office.

Rio’s Singapore office employed 262 people at the close of last year, up from 212 in the prior year.

The miner’s annual report further highlights the extent of cost cutting across the re- source industry with Rio having shed 20,000 workers, some 28 per cent of its workforce, since it peaked at 71,000 in 2012.

Rio’s Australian workforce has been reduced by about 4750, or 18 per cent, during this time. This decline includes workers who have left Rio as it has sold assets.

Rival BHP Billiton has cut its workforce by close to half from a peak of 126,222 in June 2013 to 65,263 in June 2016.

BHP includes contractor numbers within its count.

The mining giant also lost 27,000 employees when it spun out the South32 business in early 2015.