Farm Relief Services (FRS) created 300 jobs in 2018 “due to increased customer demand for workers”, the organisation confirmed. The roles include milking, calf rearing, calving supervision, machinery operation and general farm work.

FRS contracted services took on a number of agri-advisers in 2018, all level eight graduates, on a short-term contract basis, with the plan to recruit additional advisers on short-term contracts in early 2019. FRS fencing created three positions in Athenry, Ennis and Ballyjamesduff as yard sales of fencing materials continued to grow.

One new farm services co-ordinator was taken on in Waterford. On the agri-business recruitment side, FRS recruitment has placed 35% more people in businesses this year.

These roles included technical support and sales specialists across machinery, fertiliser and ruminants. It reported a pick-up in opportunities for agricultural design engineers, qualified agricultural mechanics, service managers and technical support engineers.

The push in employment across FRS is continuing next year. An additional 100 seasonal farm workers will be required to meet spring time demand in 2019. There are also 50 full-time dairy posts available.

Currently, a number of branches of their recruitment agency service are looking for personnel across Ireland. FRS fencing is currently recruiting for two fencing operators in Cork, while Herdwatch is recruiting for sales and support staff to manage its growing membership and join the farm management app team in Roscrea, Co Tipperary. Also, FRS network is looking for an IT business/systems analyst in Roscrea.

The organisation has more than 20 international agricultural opportunities available with clients in the Middle East. It has also reported that there is a pressing demand for veterinarians with one to two years’ experience working with dairy cows in Saudi Arabia and Dubai. Details are available on www.frsrecruitment.com or contact jmiller@frsrecruitment.com and www.frsfarmrelief.ie/careers.

The five companies that created the most jobs

With more than 3,000 jobs over 89 companies, here are five entities who were the big contributors to the numbers:

  • The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine saw a jump in its head count by 150. An additional 25 internships and students placements and 90 seasonal workers were also employed here.
  • Teagasc had 20 new full-time jobs, with 57 seasonal workers, 130 internships and 20 graduates taken on this year. It also recruited 100 contract staff, which includes researchers. The majority of staff recruited held at least a Level 8 qualification and they were recruited into research, advisory and education posts. Teagasc sponsored 20 Walsh fellowship graduates from University College Dublin who will complete their masters programme with Teagasc over the next two years. In 2019, they intend on taking on another 20 permanent staff.
  • Dawn Meats increased its head count by 134 last year. This included 37 graduate positions.
  • Carton Group, the company which owns Manor Farm Chickens, hired 157 new staff due to its expansion and re-structuring of the business. This comes after it was bought by Scandi Standard for €70m last year.
  • Kerry Group took on 162 extra people across its Irish operations in 2018. In total, it hired 507 additional staff, with the majority being replacements. The new jobs include 32 graduate positions.

    • Kate Guinan from Tubber in Offaly works for Carroll's Cuisine.

    Name: Kate Guinan

    Age: 30

    From: Tubber, Co Offaly

    College: Athlone Institute of Technology and Dublin Institute of Technology

    Job title: New product development technologist

    While I was in the process of finishing my masters in food product development in Dublin Institute of Technology, I was made aware of an advertisement online for a new role in Carroll Cuisine. I applied and was very lucky to be successful in gaining employment with this well-established company. I have worked here for just over two years now.

    My job involves creating and developing new products for the cooked meats industry.

    The process starts with researching the current market and identifying a gap or opportunity for new product development. The product developed must be sought after by the customer and be profitable for the company. My typical working day can consist of many different activities such as recipe development, scale-up trials from the innovation lab to factory scale, customer presentations, product quality benchmarking, taste panel sessions, new ingredient evaluations, supplier meetings, new product development (NPD) meetings, etc.

    The best part of my job is that no two days are the same. Every day arrives with a new challenge. I love being creative with food. I really enjoy translating current foodie trends into our pre-packed cooked meat products. It’s also very rewarding to see products that I have developed on the shelves in leading retailers. My biggest challenge in this role is trying to create and develop a product that is desirable to a mass market. I may love a product, but that doesn’t mean that everyone will.