Mary Barefoot
March 19, 2021
Newsletter ArticleLast year AgCareers.com modified our annual Ag HR Review survey to capture more detail about the impact COVID was having on the agribusiness environment. As we reflect a year later, we know that not everything changed—some things stayed the same. The true essential nature of agribusiness kept many ag and food organizations pushing forward and thriving.
In an interesting twist, recruitment continued and some employers even increased hiring. We learned half of ag and food companies expected to increase their workforce size in the next 2 years. A positive nod to the steady industry in which we work.
Thankfully, most ag and food companies didn’t have to let people go; 75-80% of employers did not take action to manage employment numbers within their organization. Furlough and reallocating staff to other departments was an initial strategy by organizations. Then later into May, we also saw layoffs however with intentions to rehire. Typically, sales/customer service departments were most likely to be affected, but overall, the industry was very resilient. Only a small percentage of employers experienced a true reduction of the workforce.
Internships are another measure of how ag and food proceeded on during the pandemic. Nearly 60% of employers proceeded as planned with internships, but roughly 40% of employers made some type of modification to the program. Only a very small number of employers called their programs off. Many shifted their program to remote or reduced the total number of interns.
When we asked ag and food companies what their top HR concerns were last year, we strongly expected COVID-19, and a safe and healthy work environment to take top spot. However, while still a top concern, COVID-19 only ranked 6th in the U.S. and 8th in Canada. COVID didn’t replace our worries or concerns over talent, it was just added to the mix.
Learn more about how agribusiness mitigated the challenges of last year from competition for talent, recruiting difficulties, retention, compensation, training and development, benefits and more in the newly released Ag HR Review Reports:
2020-2021 U.S. AgCareers.com Agribusiness HR Review
2020-2021 Canadian AgCareers.com Agribusiness HR Review
Help us to continue to track HR policy and practices trends, request your link to participate in the 2021 survey today and receive a $10 Amazon Gift Card. https://www.agcareerssurvey.com/
