A careers steering group, co-ordinated by TIAH, met recently to discuss ways to attract more people into farming and growing careers.

The group involved representatives from AHDB, the Chartered Institute of Horticulture LANTRA, LEAF, the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs, National Farmers Union Education and the Tenant Farmers Association. It was held as a follow-up to the TIAH-led cross-industry careers roundtable late last year, which led to an agreement around a careers action plan.

The first meeting of the industry’s careers steering group – facilitated by TIAH – focused on identifying gaps in careers support. Group members also discussed how to enhance our ability to influence new entrants through collaboration with several excellent initiatives. The group felt there were two missing elements: a need to influence the people who influence career seekers, i.e. careers professionals, teachers, parents, and a need to provide more opportunities for work experience in the sector. In addition, the group agreed to support the industry so more people felt confident about offering work experience.

The Independent Review into Labour Shortages in the Food Supply Chain Labour Review Team, chaired by John Shropshire, had asked the group to discuss future skills and labour needs. It was critical to the group to understand the barriers that farmers and growers faced in attracting and keeping staff, how the demand for training had evolved, and possible solutions to improve the uptake of training. TIAH’s recent Labour Market Information research was also of great interest to them. TIAH has also shared the research findings with the Review panel.