Competition on the jobs market is tough – but all is not lost for the agricultural professions. Provided, that is, that young people's needs are taken into consideration and that there is a willingness to rethink wage levels.
It is a notoriously difficult situation: the issue of how to satisfy the demand for skilled workers in all sectors of the agricultural industry is a huge challenge not only within the industry itself.
Agricultural careers are in competition with many other, supposedly more attractive, professions. Not only do demographic changes mean there are fewer and fewer potential trainees coming through, but an increasing number of school-leavers are achieving higher school leaving qualifications too.
So in future, there will have to be a much greater focus on encouraging school-leavers to take up a dual vocational education and training programme, rather than a degree. This same objective is being pursued by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF), and is also underlined in a new study by education expert Wolfgang Kawollek, carried out on behalf of the Association for the Promotion of Agriculture and Forestry Workers, based in Kassel, and funded by the Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank development agency for agribusiness (Frankfurt am Main).
The study, "Ausbildungsberufe der Agrarwirtschaft – Fakten – Daten – Zahlen" [Skilled occupations in the agricultural industry – facts, figures and data, study available in German only], provides a whole series of proposals for how to make agricultural professions more attractive to young people again. But here is a little comfort to begin: a special analysis from the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) has established there is "increased interest in dual vocational education and training from young people who have the qualifications required to study for a degree".
According to the study, the BIBB carried out an investigation into the question: what do young people want from their future skilled occupation or training organisation? Just a quick look shows that youngsters view businesses that have "the potential to be a long-term employer" as particularly attractive. They favour a good work climate, secure jobs and high chances of being kept on at the end of their training. Other important factors are a good reputation and, in particular, a balance between training and free time, not to mention up-to-date facilities; certain monetary aspects such as financial support, perhaps in the form of a travel expenses allowance or paid overtime, are key considerations too. These are all things that agricultural businesses can afford to offer.
Surprisingly, the survey respondents said that whether a company provided material incentives such as an iPhone or a company car at the start of training was not so important to them, nor did they much care whether the business had social media accounts on Facebook, Xing, Twitter or the like. The potential candidates were also relatively unconcerned about whether they would be training together with lots of other trainees in-house – which will be of comfort to small businesses.
Another interesting point to note is that the majority of those questioned agreed with the statement: if I really like a training organisation, I will compromise on the skilled occupation itself. This statement is especially significant in relation to the agricultural industry, since agricultural professions do not always have the best image, says Kawollek.