In an effort to help close workforce talent gaps and reduce turnover in the Tri-Cities food processing industry, we teamed up with the Northwest Food Processors Association (NWFPA) to create a roundtable discussion among area food processors at the Port of Pasco. This discussion led to the development of some great new ideas for attracting skilled talent to the industry and area.
Building off of some alarming statistics from a NWFPA survey of food processors last year—indicating 40% of the food processing management workforce is eligible for retirement within the next five years, and that food processors in rural areas are actually experiencing this management retirement issue currently—we wanted to encourage a conversation among key industry leaders to present some solutions and best practices to address this workforce pipeline issue.
Highlights of the Findings
• Military veterans, across several different skill-levels, are a great fit for jobs in food processing. But many veterans don’t know the wide array of positions available, or how those positions connect with the jobs they had while in the military. Attracting them to the industry by directly correlating their Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) code to specific job opportunities is a great practice to consider.
• Food processors adopting the National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC) as a preferred method to measure and certify skill levels in the industry is a way to standardize the hierarchy of skills, and a good way to easily recognize skilled seasonal candidates.
• Pre-employment training programs, such as our own DePaul Industries’ Heart of the Workforce (HOW) program and Mechatronics, preparing employees for industry-based skills before they step in the door, are proven ways to build skills and increase the likelihood of candidates beginning to build careers in food processing.
The Attendees
The AttendeesAttendees represented operations managers and HR managers from the industry. “I found the session highly meaningful, with several actionable takeaways,” said Selina Hoflund, Manager & Plant HR at McCain Foods USA, Inc. in Othello, WA. “I’d love to see more food processors involved to share ideas about how to expand our talent pool.”
NWFPA, known for its extensive research within the food processing industry throughout Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, is on the lookout for food processors in the Tri-Cities area to get in touch with the organization in order to contribute to the conversation, provide best hiring practices from their respective plants and seasons, and benefit from the shared resources offered by other processors.
“As an association, we’re interested in obtaining a broader idea of the workforce pipeline issues and hard-to-fill skilled positions within the industry,” says David McGiverin, Sustainability and Productivity Manager at NWFPA. “There’s a huge benefit to food processors working together to solve these issues, and it’s imperative—given the alarming pending retirement rate—to begin now.”
Do you have any best practice ideas to share about attracting talent to the food processing industry?
