Using work permits as a solution to on-farm labour shortages

There is no question that it has been a tough year for farmers attracting and retaining on-farm employees across different enterprises in the industry.

A lack of qualified personnel, low interest in roles, intense competition for candidates and high employee expectations regarding salary and benefits have been some of the barriers to finding sufficient labour.

According to ifac’s Irish Farm Report 2023, 32% of farmers surveyed said finding available employees is the biggest obstacle to attracting and retaining farm workers.

Issues causing labour shortages

Ireland has lost a considerable slice of its workforce throughout the pandemic, according to Martin Hayes, director of Protential Resources.

“No one has done a head count. It’s impossible to, but every company we ask, tells us of those employees who have not returned to Ireland. The reasons being work opportunities in their home country, family, better opportunities in other European countries and, of course, the cost of living in Ireland along with the availability of accommodation,” says Martin.

The change in traditional family farm structures has resulted in fewer people farming in local areas across Ireland as less people live on farms.

“It’s a very simple equation, the number of farmers is down and the number of farm families is down. Through education and other developments, young people growing up on farms are leaving the farms and going abroad in some cases.

“They are going into other careers because of the education and opportunities that exist in Ireland and different parts of the world,” explains Martin.

Skilled workers outside of EEA

With the advent of critical skills and other work permit allocations, Protential Resources has been recruiting people from outside the European Economic Area (EEA), for the past six years.

“It’s bringing people in from parts of the world with expertise that we don’t have here,” says Martin.

Finding employees outside of the EEA provides an opportunity to gain highly skilled workers in many sectors.

In Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Mexico, there is extensive food production and food processing industries. In Cebu, Philippines, there are trained and skilled pig farm staff, welders and food processing operatives. In East Timor, there are operatives to work in the food processing industry.

Work permits

An employment permit to work in Ireland is required if you hire employees from outside the EEA, UK or Switzerland.

Employees must meet several conditions to qualify for a work permit. Along with this, there must be an allocation of work permits to that particular sector.

According to figures from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, from January to October 2023, 1,242 work permits were allocated to the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector.

This figure is substantially lower when compared to last year. In the same timeframe, 4,135 work permits were allocated to the sector.

However, in 2021, 658 work permits were given in the same timeframe. They are allocated based on demands and needs in each sector, which tends to fluctuate year on year.

The employment permits list is currently under review by the Government and is due to be announced next month.

“From our point of view, we see the demand every week from production units and, in particular, pig and dairy farms.

“People are struggling to find staff, certainly in Ireland and across Europe as well. The food processing industry is the same. It’s under pressure to process all the product that they have,” says Martin.

A spokesperson from the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment said: “Ireland’s economic migration policy facilitates the entry, in the short to medium term, of non-EEA nationals to fill skills gaps in economically strategic sectors.

“The Government operates an employment permits system, which is highly responsive to areas of identified skills needs and labour shortages across the economy.

Changes to the lists, if any, will then be given legal effect by way of a statutory instrument

“The system is, by design, vacancy-led and driven by the changing needs of the labour market. The review of the eligibility of occupations appearing on the critical skills list and the ineligible occupations list for employment permits is approaching its conclusion and the Department will prepare a report for ministerial consideration and approval.

“Changes to the lists, if any, will then be given legal effect by way of a statutory instrument.

“With regard to permits for the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector, occupations for certain roles in the agri-food sector had access to permits over the past number of years under a quota restriction.

“The agri-food pilot scheme for employment permits was first introduced in 2018 to provide access to general employment permits for certain agri-food occupations.

“[A total of] 8,115 permits have been granted to the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector since 2020. The amount of permits issued in any given time to any sector will obviously be dependent on any quota restriction that may be in operation.”