HR on 'The Ice': in the extreme conditions of Antarctica, there is no place for weak HR practices

HR Magazine, June, 2004 by Ann Pomeroy

The workweeks are long--at least 54 hours, often more. Many of the jobs involve hard, even grueling manual labor. And the living conditions are rudimentary. Two employees share a room with bunk beds. In the most luxurious accommodations, community bathrooms are down the hall; in the most primitive living quarters, they are in the building next door. Outdoor temperatures range from cold to bitter cold with whiteout conditions. In the summer, the sun never sets, making it potentially hard to sleep. In the winter, it is dark 24/7 for months on end.

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These kinds of conditions--and the very name of this place, Antarctica--might lead you to believe that recruiting for jobs here would be impossible. You'd be wrong, though. Job applicants--a certain kind of applicant, to be sure--scramble for the chance to live and work at the end of the earth.

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If convincing individuals to work in Antarctica might be easier than you'd think, that doesn't mean that staffing and working with employees at the Southern Pole is a cakewalk. In this harsh environment, employee selection and training--as well as working to maintain good employee relations on-site--are vital tasks that leave little room for error.

'How Cool Is That!'

Lori Boruch, senior manager of human resources for Raytheon Polar Services Co. (RPSC), remembers when she first saw her job advertised in the Denver Post. "The ad said there was the opportunity to travel to Antarctica," she recalls. "I thought, 'How cool is that!'"

Boruch landed that job and now works at the Denver headquarters of RPSC, a business unit of Raytheon Technical Services Co. LLC and the government contractor that handles operations and support for the U.S. Antarctic Program headed by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Although no country owns Antarctica, the United States and other nations that have signed the Antarctic Treaty conduct scientific research on the continent and its surrounding islands. To support its scientists in the field, the U.S. Antarctic Program maintains two ice-strengthened research vessels, several field camps and three research stations: Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Palmer Station and McMurdo Station, the largest of the three.

During her interviews for the job, Boruch repeatedly asked: "How hard is it to get hundreds of people to do this every year?" Not as hard as you might think, she was told. There are plenty of people who are attracted by the difficulties and hardships of working on the harsh continent, she learned.

The key is selecting the individuals with the best chance of working successfully and diligently through the term of their contracts--as well as providing effective employee relations that can create a successful working environment.

That is challenge enough during austral summer, when planes leave McMurdo Station every other day; it is a much stiffer challenge for those who winter over for the duration. When the last plane takes off in February, round-the-clock darkness begins to descend on the continent. At that point, McMurdo Station closes and leaving is not an option until the first planes arrive in August, heralding the approach of spring.

Why would individuals choose to isolate themselves (non-working dependents are not allowed) in such a remote, hostile environment? Who are these people?

A Breed Apart

Polar workers are adventurous, well-traveled, well-educated people, Boruch says. "Many people have decided to make this a lifestyle." Applicants are a self-selecting group. Many are in the process of making major life changes. "Maybe they are leaving corporate America; some are newly divorced," says Boruch. "They need to be at the right place in their lives and in their careers."

Some applicants are simply looking to "check off the seventh continent," she says. "They want to do it once for the experience and then move on."

RPSC recruiting manager Tamesha Johnson says, "We have doctors who apply to be janitors and lawyers who will work in the kitchen, just for the experience. And, unless you've got $30,000 to spare [for an Antarctic cruise], this program is the only way you're going to get down there."

Some husband and wife teams work on "The Ice"--always capitalized by those who live in this harsh and unforgiving climate. Bella Patel, HR project lead at McMurdo during the past summer season, says that in some cases, parents and children 18 or older work together. "We had a father and son who worked together in McMurdo. The son said he learned so much about what his father really did, things he hadn't known before."

Many who apply to work on The Ice have definite preferences for where they are stationed and when. "People either really want to go to [South] Pole [Station], or they really want to go to McMurdo," Boruch says. For some, McMurdo is "too big," especially during the summer, when the population reaches about 1,200. "They say it's too much like a big city. They prefer the solitude of Pole." Others would never go to Pole, she says, but love McMurdo. Some only want to go for the summer season, while others choose winter.