Solution To Overseas Worker Shortage Could Be Close To Home
The agriculture and horticulture industries in Australia rely heavily on overseas workers to meet peak seasonal demand.
According to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences, over one-third of peak seasonal jobs on vegetable, fruit and nut farms were filled by overseas workers. This year with the COVID-19 pandemic and the closing of international borders, it means these migrant workers that usually make up a large portion of the workforce, are unable to enter the country. In fact, the Seasonal horticulture labour demand and workforce study, conducted by Ernst & Young, to assess the shortage of labour across the fruit and vegetable industries in the current climate of the COVID-19 pandemic, predicts there will be a deficit in the Australian horticulture workforce to the tune of up to 26,000 workers by March next year. The report listed areas such as Shepparton, The NSW Murray region, Cairns, Coffs Harbour, South-East South Australia and North-West Victoria as some of the areas where the demand and labour gap will be most prevalent.
With such a gap in the labour market, growers are going to need to look elsewhere to fill these roles and keep up with the summer harvests. Some of the regions listed above with the highest, projected demand, also have some of the highest youth unemployment. For example, according to the Labour Market Information Portal, Shepparton has a youth unemployment rate of 19.5%, Coffs Harbour a youth unemployment rate of 14.8%, and South-East South Australia a youth unemployment rate of 15.3%. This seems like the perfect opportunity to fill the worker shortages, with the reduction in international seasonal workers, by looking to recruit locally from the regions, with the high amount of young people looking for career opportunities.
An effective and proven way that growers can look to bring in new, emerging talent to fill the skills gap is through a traineeship or apprenticeship pathway. The traineeship and apprenticeship model lends itself perfectly to this scenario of building the workforce from the ground up, addressing the labour shortage for the horticulture and agriculture industries and also help to address the high youth unemployment in these growing regions. The younger generation are extremely invested in the environment and sustainability, and are also digitally savvy to the continual change technology advancement brings to these industries. These industries have the opportunity right now to harness these characteristics to meet current and future workforce needs.
Trainees and apprentices work full time, learning all the relevant skills on the job, but also attending formal training at a Registered Training Organisation. Trainees and apprentices generally work towards a Certificate III or IV level qualification, so at the end of the traineeship or apprenticeship, they not only have the relevant, hands-on work experience, but obtain a nationally recognised qualification in their chosen profession. Training organisations in the VET sector have the ability to be flexible with the units on offer, ensuring that individuals are completing units that best match the work they are completing in the workplace. At NextGen Jobs, we collaborate with training organisations and industry to design bespoke employment and training programs, that best suit the workplace, but most importantly, the individual.
With the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to affect large portions of the world, and the borders not close to being re-opened to allow international arrivals for some time, these two industries (two of many) need to look at alternative ways to not only get through this challenging period with such a high labour shortage, but also towards the future of its workforce. The adaptable traineeship and apprenticeship model addresses both these areas, plus playing a vital role in reducing the high youth unemployment rate in the regional areas of Australia and keeping young people connected to their local communities.
Article written by Tim Owens, Future Workforce Consultant at NextGen Jobs.