The Current Situation and Trend of the Labor Force of Mining Sector in Mongolia

The mining was declared as a priority sector within the framework of the government policy to support the export industries. In the past years, the mining extraction increased steady and growth showed an increase of 8.3 percent in 2012 compared to the previous year, 19.4 percent in 2013 and 24.4 percent in 2014 respectively. In the current stage when the mining sector production plays a crucial role in the accumulation of the state budget, one of the key issues of improving the benefits of this sector is the impact of the labor force. By the labor market survey of 2013 out of 219013 job offers 14541 jobs or 6.6 percent were in the mining exploration sectors. Due to the mining sector booming, the job opportunities have increased and there is a need for the government policy and regulations for the education policies, curriculum modifications of the universities, colleges and vocation training as well as labor migration. According to the results of the study, the major challenge for the mining sector is lack of creative, enthusiastic and professional personnel. Therefore, identification of the accurate government policies that would ensure the balance between supply, the demand for the human resources in the mining sector and cohesion of the stakeholders are becoming essential.


A. Introduction
The mining sector was declared as a priority economic sector of the country in the national development policy based on the national goals of the millennium challenge of Mongolia and sanctioned to conduct geological surveying utilizing public funding as well as to explore the strategic deposits. 1 By2014 the GDP reached 21844.2 bln MNT and compared to the previous year it increased by 14.3 percent. The main contributors to the present growth of GDP were increases of agriculture 13.5 percent, mining sector 29.7 percent and construction 16.3 percent. The impact of the mining sector to GDP in the past ten years presented in table 1.

Table 1 Gross Domestic Product of Mongolia (by sector )
Source: NSO statistical booklet, 2014 By the average of the past 3 years, the mining made 16.5 percent of GDP and composed 40 percent of the budget revenue and more than 90 percent of the export.  Especially, the main export commodities such as mintage, copper concentrate, iron ore and concentrate, crude oil made 86 percent of the total export or 76 percent of the supply.
Currently, more than 10 mining products are extracted and exported as concentrate upon primary processing. 2 By January 21, 2015 in total 1284 companies are engaged in the current sector and employ 47415 employees for the permanent and temporary jobs. 3 and engineering backgrounds and it demonstrates the existing needs for skilled technical personnel in our country. The mining sector employs 1445 expatriate personnel or 16.3 percent of the expatriates and the second largest sector employ the foreign labor force is the construction.

B. Method
We focus on practical implications for Mongolian policymakers.
However, our methods and findings might have implications for other developing countries. The Mongolian labor market is strong in many dimensions, and some trends, such as the level of education and the degree of formality, are moving in a positive direction. But there are also problems.
In this section, we provide policy suggestions for addressing these problems and further improving the employment situation in Mongolia.
Finally, analysts should work to establish evidence on causal relationships between specific programs or policies and economic outcomes, and between macroeconomic performance and the labor market. We noted that government services should be evaluated, but this can go further. In the area of establishing the relationship between policies and outcomes, randomized controlled trials and other rigorous methods to determine causal mechanisms will be useful, as will designing policies to include a monitoring and evaluation component that can incorporate improvements during implementation. Generally, the research methodology that we use is a mixed method.

C. Discussion
Mongolia has implemented numerous policies and actions towards to the development of the human resources of the mining sector. Presently, professionals of the mining sector are prepared at the various higher education institutions such as Applied Science School of NUM, School of Geology MUST, Mining engineering school, Erdenet School of Technology, Darkhan School of Technology and several private institutions are also involved.
The following types of institutions are involved in the education of the mining professionals in Mongolia: 1. Universities and colleges 2. School of Technology 3. Vocational Training Schools Among the universities and colleges state-owned universities including MUST, University of Geology and Mining, MUST branch School of Technology in Darkhan, Erdenet, and Uvurkhangai, Germany invested Mongolian German joint university of minerals and technology that started its operation a year ago offering an undergraduate degree in mining refinery engineering. As the university started in August 2014 they enrolled 21 fulltime students and 30 students for the foundation program. The state university of Mongolia is a private institution that has 9 majors in mining and producing mining specialists in the labor market during the past 6 years.
Overall 1979   According to the projection made by the Labor, institute71848 jobs will be available in the current sector in 2017 and 91480 jobs will be created. Although in the 2013-2014 academic year in private and public universities and colleges 3933 students enrolled in 6 mining majors both undergraduate and post graduate levels and they represent only 2.6 percent of the total number of students studied that year.
The government of Mongolia has been taking measures and giving significance for preparing highly qualified mining specialists in the overseas prestigious higher education institutions and doubled study abroad related funding and more than 50 students receive a grant in aid

D. Recommendations and Conclusion
Based on the above reviews we proposed a model that would enable enhancing the sustainability of the supply and demand of the labor force of the mining and interrelation of the stakeholders.
Model on meeting demand & supply of mining sector.

Recommendations Based on the Model
I st stage: Government 1) Review ineffective government decisions and resolutions on labor force of the mining sector issued previously and reformulate and optimize the decisions with respect to the present conditions and enforce them; and 2) Create a favorable legal environment for implementing the government policy and enabling better collaboration among implementing agencies, businesses working in the mining, local government leaders, trade unions and civic organizations.

II nd stage: Implementing agencies
1) Establish vocational training centers at the major mining companies that will enable providing an industry based learning environment and obtaining skills and hands-on experiences; 2) Create a possibility to improve the professional's skills for the personnel who are already working in the industry and students majoring in mining and increase the number of mining majors and joint programs; 3) Establish electronic database on labor force who will join the sector; and 4) Intensify promotion of occupations among secondary schools and increase enrollment quota for the vocational training center, technical colleges, and university applicants.

III rd stage: Institutions involved in preparing professionals
1) Increase the number scholarships of mining companies and the Ministry of Mining; 2) Strengthen the quality of the internships and industry practicum sessions of the colleges and institutions to better meet labor market requirements and implement government funded project to address the quality of teaching and learning; and 3) Study the focus areas of the businesses in cooperating with the students and increase interests of the businesses to involve the students in solving industry issues through the industrial practicum and internship.
IV th stage: Companies 1) Enhance and expand university and business cooperation; 2) Improve the working environment and social welfare of the employees at the businesses; and 3) Strengthen Human Resource planning and policy.