Labour in the Supply Chain
Making food and drink products in factories is a complicated process that often
requires large numbers of staff. Attracting UK nationals to unskilled and
semi-skilled jobs in the sector continues to be difficult. This means the
industry has
become increasingly reliant on migrant labour.
Migrant workers are extremely valuable to the UK's food and drink manufacturing
sector currently accounting for around 20% of the workforce. They are often
flexible and willing to work unsociable shifts in factories that run 24 hours a
day.
They are also important during times of peak seasonal demand, when extra labour
is required.
Over-reliance on migrant workers is however undesirable because they cannot be
relied upon to always be there. As economic and demographic factors change, UK
food and drink manufacturers could find themselves short of the staff required
to
produce the food and drink products we take for granted. Ensuring workforces
have a core of UK nationals would help avoid this problem.
That is why FDF and its members are working hard with Improve, the food and drink sector skills council, to do more to improve the image of the food and drink industry as an
attractive place for unskilled and semi-skilled UK nationals to work in. FDF
has launched Taste Success – A Future in Food careers campaign which seeks to attract young talent into the sector by promoting the
range of opportunities available and dispelling negative perceptions about
working in the sector.
More Information
Last reviewed: 22 Jun 2011