It is becoming increasingly difficult for dairy farmers in the United Kingdom to find staff. As a result, many of them think about terminating the company. This is according to a recently published study by the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers.
Research by the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers shows that 63% of British dairy farmers have had difficulty finding (suitable) staff in the past 5 years. In 2016, this percentage was even more than 51% and 2 years before that it was still 40%. This makes it a growing problem for many dairy farmers, and many of them are now thinking about whether they can and/or want to continue the dairy farm.
Long working hours
The fact that few employees can be found is partly due to the long working hours. Also, not very many people appear to be interested in working in dairy farming. About 28% of current workers in the sector retire due to poor working conditions. Yet dairy farmers are trying to do something about this. For example, 77% of them indicate that there are changes to the role to make the work more attractive.
Due to the inability to find local workers, many companies have become increasingly dependent on foreign workers. However, those workers will soon be less easy to hire as a result of Brexit. The current corona measures also make it difficult to hire someone from another country.
Many young people are interested
The good news is that half of all current employees are between the ages of 16 and 34. This shows that younger people are somewhat interested in working in dairy farming. However, for the short term, workers are needed quickly. However, it is still unclear how this will be achieved.
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