What It Does: BHP is involved in the mining and refining metallurgical coal, copper, potash, iron ore, nickel, and uranium. BHP is also involved in exploring, producing, and processing natural gas and other petroleum derivatives.
Mission: BHP is committed to combining human and material resources to create a better world
Size and Presence: BHP employs thousands of workers at its Singapore sales and marketing head office.
Best Known For: In 2017, BHP was the largest global mining company in market capitalisation. In the 2020 edition of Forbes Global 2000, BHP was listed as the 93rd largest public company globally.
The Good Bits: BHP has very attractive career prospects for its interns and new graduates. The company pays its staff members well. The employment incentives are mouth-watering.
The Not-So-Good Bits: The job comes with high expectations. The work is hectic.
BHP was created from the merger between Billiton and Broken Hill Proprietary Company. The former was founded as Maatschappij in 1860 when a group of shareholders approved its articles of association. A couple of months later, the company acquired mineral rights to the Billiton and Bangka islands, which are off the eastern coast of Sumatra. The latter was founded in 1885. Both companies merged in 2001 to create BHP Billiton. In 2005, the company made a bid for the Olympic Dam mine in South Australia, a fertiliser plant in Queensland, and a nickel operation in Western Australia. Two years later, the company announced its intent to acquire Rio Tinto Group, a rival mining company. In 2009, BHP Billiton sold its nickel operations to First Quantum Minerals.
In 2010, BHP Billiton made a major acquisition when it bought Athabasca Potash, a move that The Economist speculated would make BHP the producer of roughly 15% of the global demand for potash. In 2011, the company wanted to strengthen its shale natural gas resources by announcing its intent to acquire Petrohawk Energy. In 2014, BHP Billiton announced its plans to launch an independent metals and mining company. Later on, the company changed its name to BHP Group. When BHP expanded into the Asian region, Singapore became one of the company’s main hubs.
BHP has built a great working culture by embracing values, namely openness, trust, diversity, teamwork, and mutually beneficial relationships. One of the most remarkable things about BHP is its inclusive working atmosphere. At BHP, different nationalities, religions, socioeconomic backgrounds, marital statuses, genders, ages, and perceptions make up the workforce. The company works as a team to achieve its goals and encourages its employees to collaborate with each other and build mutually beneficial relationships. The company warmly welcomes its freshers and interns and is willing to provide any support they need to settle down and thrive in the organisation. There’s no specific dress code in the office spaces, but the dress code at the company’s sites is PPE.
BHP has always been a great place to build a career. The company offers its internship programme to third-year university students. It begins in May and usually lasts for 10-12 weeks. This programme allows its participants to apply their knowledge to real projects and business challenges. Interns are also encouraged to source for projects to handle and provide their capability. Interns who make a good impression are almost guaranteed a full-time job when they complete their schooling. The company also offers a graduate programme that will begin in July and last two years. This program is designed to accelerate the career advancement of the trainees.
The company fields online applications and screens the applicants through an online assessment which may be followed by a video interview. Applicants who scale through are accepted into the company's graduate programme.
A fresh graduate working at BHP will earn an average salary of SGD 50,000 yearly.
Employee Benefits
BHP has donated a lot of money to several voluntary local community and environmental initiatives in Singapore.
In 2020, BHP lost a tax case over its Singapore marketing hub.