Gen Z creates ag hiring challenges

Finding the right fit for an employee is a challenge for any industry, let alone agriculture.

“Different job markets, changing talent pools and a change in the demographics, there’s a lot that has changed over the last 15 to 20 years in agriculture,” Ashley Nicholls of Reach Agricultural Strategies said during his Ag Management: The Life Cycle of An Agricultural Employee presentation at the Ag Connections Conference in Medicine Hat.

The Canadian farming population continues to age, with 60 per cent older than 55. Those 36 to 54 make up 32 per cent, and 35 and younger are at eight per cent.

Replacing these older workers with members of the Gen Z generation is challenging, considering they do not like to stay in one place too long. Members of this cohort change jobs 127 per cent faster than the millennials before them.

“Gone are the days of the pasture cowboy to the pen checker, but also gone are the days of the 20-year employee,” Nicholls said.

“What they’re looking for in employment is very different. They’re not necessarily looking at the finances as much. Finances matter, because the world costs a lot, but they’re also looking at job satisfaction. Are they happy at the end of the day? Do they feel fulfilled? They’re looking for transparency and career development.”

An employment life cycle features the five stages of hiring, on-boarding, training, growing and moving on. He said there is a real cost to that turnover.

Nicholls ran a cost-analysis model from the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council using a $15 an hour employee and a $25 an hour manager, and it amounted to $12,305 in re-hiring costs per employee. Those costs add up, particularly when accounting for seasonal work and condensed numbers in certain operations.