The Role of Stakeholders in the Indigenous Employment Program of Rio Case Study

The Role of Stakeholders in the Indigenous Employment Program of Rio Tinto - Case Study Example The company has been steadfast in creating employment opportunities for the indigenous people in Australia. A majority of these people are of aboriginal origins, but some of them belong to other tribes or sub-tribes. Since most of its major operations and plants are located in rural or remote areas, Rio Tinto feels obligated to return the favor by promoting the development of those areas. The only way it is capable of doing this is by creating space for those people in their company. This gives indigenous people the opportunity to secure the futures of current and future generations, and move away from the mainly subsistence form of life they are used. In this day and age, it is worrying to know that there are people who are so close, yet so far, to civilization. What Rio Tinto is doing is bringing civilization to the indigenous people of Australia, and there is nothing better than what they are doing at the moment. It is worth noting that the company is not solely focused on just employing indigenous people. It supports (through educational grants and other forms of support) individuals from indigenous communities who have the potential to make positive changes in society. This makes a lot of sense because if its only intention was to employ people it would be unable to find enough people to employ. For example, if the company wanted indigenous people to form ten percent of its total workforce and only managed to realize a five percent figure, where would the other five percent come from? Rio Tinto’s strategy is based on spot, supporting, training and then employing individuals from indigenous communities. This ensures that its conveyor belt does not run dry, and keeps churning out skilled and qualified personnel. For many years, the indigenous peoples of Australia were maligned, ridiculed, scorned and mistreated2. This however changed with the passing and signing into law of several legislations that made it mandatory for indigenous people to be accorded their full rights as lawful citizens of Australia.