As in so many sectors, a lack of staff is also a major problem for the meat industry. The problem is so acute that slaughterhouses and meat processors have too few hands to fill their shifts. Slaughterhouses are also sounding alarms in the United States and Canada, while the situation is very critical in the United Kingdom.
Just last week, the market circulated that twelve production employees at a slaughterhouse in our country had reportedly resigned because they wanted better working conditions. This situation is not isolated as the labor market is in favor of employees. The number of workers has never been so high, CBS reported this month.
Slaughterhouses and meat processors have to work hard to fill their shifts with enough people on the slaughter and production lines. Hundreds of vacancies are circulating on the internet that need to be filled – often urgently. Meat processing is a labor-intensive job that, due to the specialized working method, is almost impossible to automate. People will continue to be asked for this in the future.
Pumping people around
A secondment agency in the meat sector (which does not wish to be named) says that vacancies are being filled, but that this usually involves pumping workers around through the sector. That is good for the temporary employment agency's wallet, but it does not solve the problem. The workforce also increasingly comes from Eastern Europe, for example from Ukraine. The labor shortage forces companies to be creative in creating attractive working conditions, the secondment agency said. Then think about very basic things like breakfast at work and a good canteen.
Another employment agency (which also wants to remain out of the picture) reports the same thing. Many people find the working conditions in the meat industry too tough and switch to a job as a gardener, for example. The old guard is dropping out and there is almost no new growth. The corona outbreaks in slaughterhouses have not helped the situation. And those brought in from Eastern Europe often quickly return to work in other sectors. It takes at least six months before you master the craft of boning. The shortage is great and solutions are not available, the secondment agency said.
Slaughter backlog in UK
In the countries around us it is all the same. In Germany we have Tönnies and Westfleish personnel problems and are therefore forced to reduce capacity. In the United Kingdom, the shortage of slaughterhouse workers is also a major problem. This has created a significant slaughter backlog of an estimated 100.000 pigs. The problems are so acute that British pig farmers are forced to cull pigs because the stables are becoming overcrowded. Fortunately, such a situation does not exist here yet.
Also problems in Canada and the US
Things aren't much better on the other side of the ocean. In Canada, slaughterhouses are lobbying the government to solve the labor shortage by relaxing rules for immigrant workers. The Canadian Meat Council sounded the alarm last week that the labor shortage is at an all-time high. Nationally, the vacancy rate is approximately 10%. In Quebec this indicator is even 40%. Without staff it is impossible to keep the slaughter lines running. According to the umbrella organization, the losses of slaughterhouses are increasing significantly. To limit the labor shortage, the CMC is lobbying to increase the permitted number of non-Canadian employees. This is currently limited to 10% to 20% (depending on each slaughterhouse), the proposal is to increase that percentage to 30%.
A feud recently broke out in the US between Joe Biden's government and the major slaughterhouses. According to Biden, the high meat prices are a result of the market power of the large American meat groups such as JBS and Tyson Foods. They then reacted with anger and said that the high meat prices are due to a short of staff, to which government policy is to blame.