Representatives of the UK’s two largest seasonal worker recruitment agencies have not held their punches when speaking about a possible labour crisis facing the industry.
Both Christine Lumb of Concordia and Jimmy Davies of HOPS made it absolutely clear during a seminar at last week’s Fruit Focus show that government rationale over the Seasonal Agricultural Workers’ Scheme (SAWS) is critically flawed, and that it will take a sustained effort from the industry to persuade them to reconsider their view.
Both also suggested that unless growers put taking care of their seasonal staff at the top of their priorities lists, then they could find themselves in an even worse predicament.
Davies pointed out that there are shortages of low skilled labour all over the world, with some countries having been left without pickers at crucial points in the season. “Both the short and long term labour situation looks extremely difficult,” he said.
In a downbeat assessment of the progress over the tendering process to run SAWS from 2008-2010, Davies said that the tender process is currently ‘weeks behind schedule’ and will not be complete until December at least.” It’s difficult to imagine a more unsatisfactory and muddled situation, due to government interference,” he told the audience. “As it stands today, we cannot supply the labour as we did in 2007.”
Davies - who cited anecdotal evidence that Poland’s largest strawberry grower is moving out of the sector due to the lack of available labour - said that the Home Office appears ‘oblivious’ to the fact that there is insufficient seasonal staff.
He called on growers to make employment more attractive to potential staff, and suggested that productivity per person also needed to be improved using methods such as putting strawberries at table height. Soft fruit farms find it hardest to recruit, he added, where employment practices are sometimes poor.
In further bad news, Davies warned that the cost of recruitment is likely to rise significantly.
In her presentation Lumb predicted that in 2008 ‘the fabric and pattern of the horticulture industry could change dramatically with a substantial lessening of nationalities working.’
On a more bullish note, Lumb predicted that the industry would eventually convince the Home Office of its point of view, and anticipated that it could prove conclusively to the government within one or two years that SAWS or an equivalent scheme is essential.
Lumb said that the one thing that growers can do right now is ensure that they treat workers well to ensure they come back the following season. Training and communication is vital, and growers should give close care to new recruits who may have arrived in the country for the first time. “Temporary labour should get the same attention as a new farm manager,” Lumb insisted “Communication is the most important aspect of retaining staff and the induction is vital.
“You [the horticulture industry] lag behind in fair treatment and managing a workforce in a good way that will see them come back next year. You need to trust and be transparent in the way you work, respect and value the workforce.”
No comments yet