In response to the Irish Farmers Journal employment survey – completed by employees of 83 agri-food companies this month – 68% said that they have experienced difficulty in filling roles throughout 2024, which is down from 75% last year.
Challenge
When tasked what was the biggest challenge they faced, the majority (46% of respondents) said limited local talent, 30% said competition from other industries, 17% said a lack of affordable transport or housing for employees, 5% said high turnover due to seasonal work and 2% stated other.
New roles in the sector are slowing down. When companies were asked if they increased their head count in 2024, 53% of respondents said yes, while 47% of respondents said no.
Along with this, when asked if they decreased their head count in 2024, 74% said no, while 26% said yes. This has increased from last year as 84% of respondents in 2023 said no and 16% said yes, showing more companies have let go of staff in across the sector.
When asked what the number one priority employees in their company were looking for this year, the majority (58% of respondents) said increases in salary. Following this, 24% said hybrid working flexibility, 14% said company benefits, 3% said flexibility while only 1% said job security.
When asked how many days employees are now working from home, 41% said one day, 23% said two days, 21% said three days, 5% said four days and 10% said five days.
In 2023, only 22% of employees were working from home one day a week, 38% were two days, 19% were three days, 11% were four and 10% were five.
This shows there has also been a shift in the hybrid working model compared to last year, with more people returning to the office.
One of the key challenges facing employers at the moment is skills shortages.
As employers strive to hit sustainability targets, they are struggling to find the talent to enable them to achieve those goals, despite the amount of job opportunities available.
The percentage of job postings requiring green skills in Ireland is one of the highest internationally, with 12.4% of Irish jobs now requiring at least one green skill.
Green talent
According to LinkedIn, demand for green talent grew by 22.1% between 2023 and 2024, but supply only increased by 6.3% over the same period. This is particularly relevant for the agricultural sector where demand for green talent is extremely high.
In terms of specific skills and qualifications that are in demand within the agricultural sector at the moment, 36% of respondents are experiencing a shortage in technical skills.
A further 29% are experiencing shortages in soft skills, 20% in sustainable agriculture and environmental management and 17% have seen a shortage in business skills.
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