Ag businesses upping salaries to retain workers in tight market

The 2022 Agribusiness HR Review, an annual report on workforce practices and trends in the agribusiness industry, found hiring and salary pressures were overwhelmingly affecting the sector at large.

Nationwide, one-in-three businesses are struggling to fill vacancies and of those, 79 per cent say a lack of job applicants was the most common hurdle, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

But within the agriculture industry, the HR Review showed 42pc of agribusinesses believe the primary reason job offers were declined in the past 12 months was due to the salary level offered.

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In response, salaries during the past 12 months have increased within 93.5pc of Agribusiness organisations surveyed - a 14pc uptick on 2021 figures and the highest representation of salary increases seen since 2008.

Farmers are weighing up favourable seasonal conditions and record export forecasts against a tight labour market.

"Given these conditions it's unsurprising that Agribusiness employers are looking to retention strategies," the report stated.

"The review showed growth in both employee eligibility for bonus schemes and bonus payment values has occurred, in addition to an increased prevalence of counter offers."

In a changing workforce landscape, 90pc of agribusinesses now offer flexible start and finish times, while almost three-quarters of organisations plan to hire graduates within the next 12 months.

The report indicated technical roles within agribusinesses were the hardest to recruit for, which has been a consistent trend for more than a decade. They also remain the most common role employers look to international candidates for.

However, international recruitment is yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, with migration down roughly 80pc on March 2019 levels.

The government has resisted calls from the industry to revive the previous government's Ag Visa and target skilled workers from South-East Asia.

Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said although migration would always play a role in the sector's workforce, "we shouldn't give up on the idea" of filling the labour shortage by up-skilling domestic workers.

"I think it's important to recognise that the majority of workers in the agriculture industry are Australians," Mr Watt said.

In the weeks leading up to Labor's jobs and skills summit next month, Mr Watt will hold a number of round table discussions with industry groups and unions, urging cooperation to address workforce issues.

"This is not a new problem... it's not something that happened overnight or after an election," Mr Watt said.

"Getting those workforce shortages right is going to be really important for us as a country to ensure that we can maintain food supply and that we can do something about food prices in our country."