One of the more eye-opening facts, among many discussed last week at Urner Barry’s Global Protein Summit in Chicago, was that there are currently two job openings for every one available worker. That’s a troubling labor trend, in general, but one that is even bleaker in rural areas.

Meatpacking facilities in those areas, then, have a special hell in trying to maintain sufficient staffing.

Workers expected to return in droves after COVID-related unemployment benefits wound down haven’t exactly done so; those dollars go farther in rural areas and, to some extent, some people have acclimated to working for less money so long as they can work from the comfort of their own homes. Meanwhile, with baby boomers retiring at an accelerated pace, and their knowledge leaving with them, many organizations are finding themselves lacking bench strength.

Surely, meatpacking and processing jobs are in-person, hands-on duties. But flexibility, where it can be applied, is growing in value. It will be a necessary consideration in recruiting and retaining people, a panel of experts at the conference noted, as they shared ideas for several possible solutions:

Money is, of course, important — and be ready for new hires to be asking for a paycheck on Day One — but value is even more important in the long run. So, also on Day One, you’d better be making a person feel valued, because new hires start thinking about staying or leaving from the get-go. Make a good impression, creating some sort of memorable moment. Pair the new hire with a “buddy” that will hopefully become the first of many ongoing relationships.

Where recruiting from outside the company is proving too difficult, create your own pipeline through internships that allow an educational opportunity with little financial commitment. Consider partnering with universities to connect with students and going beyond job shadowing arrangements; maybe sponsor them through scholarships with a contract stipulating that they, in turn, work for your company for a certain amount of years.

Packing companies might also consider pulling boomers back in on a contract basis, particularly as market uncertainty helps cut into their 401Ks. Even if you arrange for their services for, say, two years, that’s a good amount of time to pair the next manager with them for a meaningful mentorship.

Remember that millennials are the largest portion of the younger management pool, and that by 2025, their younger counterparts, Gen Z, will make up some 27% of the workforce. They likely have a different outlook than their elders, and ESG issues are especially of increasing importance to them.

On the more optimistic side of things, the number of high school graduates in the U.S. is expected to peak in 2025 and decline from there, perhaps facilitating an increasing in interest in well-paid trade work that doesn’t require a college education.

Also promising, the experts said, was that the fastest-growing extracurricular activity in high schools and junior high schools in the last five years has been robotics, which aligns well with the industry’s increasing use of such tools.

Navigating the current labor landscape, especially in the meatpacking industry, is going to take a full set of them. Which ones are working for you?

Panelists sharing the above ideas, facts and figures were:

Cortney Cowley, senior economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
Denise Chludzinski, director of recruiting-food and beverage manufacturing, Miller Resource Group
Ron Hayden, recruiting consultant-livestock industry specialist, Ag 1 Source
Dr. Joey Mehlhorn, dean of graduate studies, University of Tennessee at Martin

When 'two-for-one' is not a good deal

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