It was good to read that talks between industry leaders and the government to tackle the HGV driver crisis have proved ‘constructive’. However, this is a challenge that doesn’t just affect logistics, but the wider food and drink supply chain, which is currently facing employment shortages in both sourcing and manufacturing.
The industry is in the midst of its own ‘employment pandemic’ brought on by Brexit, the clampdown on immigration and a lack of available staff due to many overseas workers returning home. The knock-on effect could very soon be food shortages, resulting in a spike in food prices.
EU nationals account for a large proportion of the food production workforce, so to have an estimated 1.3 million of this workforce leave the UK has hugely impacted our industry. The south east, where Higgidy is based, has lost 137,500 highly skilled workers alone, which has had a huge effect on our business as well as the local economy.
Unfortunately, it has taken a global pandemic to highlight the vital role skilled EU nationals play within our society, and the essential contribution they make to our food manufacturing infrastructure. Although we could not have predicted a global pandemic, we knew about Brexit. Now, just as consumer demand is growing, the industry faces a recruitment crisis due to a lack of skilled workers able to make our food.
The food production, hospitality and lorry driving industry have all suffered from pockets of poor working conditions. The last 18 months has shone a light on a number of social injustices that many were previously unaware of, and the pandemic has given the public a heightened sensitivity to these issues. Recently we have seen an upsurge in companies wanting to change the poor image of the sector, and there is now a growing call for the food industry to be seen as a force for good which puts people’s health and welfare before profits. These businesses recognise they will only truly thrive when they are perceived as part of the community, with a clear social purpose.
So how can we accelerate and drive forward the message food manfucturing is a genuine and rewarding career choice for people?
Firstly, we need to champion and buy into much-improved corporate standards across the industry, as set out in the Better Business Act. We need to foster a more inclusive work culture and ensure respect for all our employees. We should provide support and training to help all our recruits flourish and ensure their individual contributions are recognised and rewarded.
At Higgidy, we have always cared about our people: they are the business and we pride ourselves on a truly ‘values-based culture’. These values of ‘be brave, be smart, be kind’ are collectively known as ‘the Higgidy way’. Our purpose is to “put the heart into food and soul into business”. This enables us to foster an environment which is inclusive, has an open culture and lacks hierarchy. We provide a real living wage and flexible working as well as access and support for employees to gain GCSE-level qualifications. This has allowed us to keep and grow good people.
Secondly, as an industry we need to work more collaboratively to promote career pathways within manufacturing. Many of our managers started their working life in our kitchen teams. Attending school and college career fairs and creating great work experience opportunities are a couple of things we could do more of. Improving the understanding of what a food manufacturing career can offer amongst guidance counsellors will also help to inspire the next generation of workers, and show them working in the food industry can lead to a wide and diverse array of career opportunities.
To address the immediate shortages, the food manufacturing industry should build on the CBI’s call to the government to extend the skilled workers shortage list to include food manfuacturing operatives, and to recognise the valuable role they play within our food infrastructure.
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