An industry recruitment video commissioned by Meat Business Women has been launched during National Careers Week aiming to attract fresh talent into operational and production roles in the meat and poultry sector.
Amidst the labour shortage across the meat industry, particularly within operational and production roles, the need for new talent into entry level roles is at an all-time high. In a recent article by The Grocer, it was reported that the UK’s total food and drink workforce fell at the beginning of the pandemic, from 2.1 million people in 2019 to 1.7 million in the first quarter of 2021.
Meat Business Women has responded to an industry need by commissioning the video which aims to attract young people who may not have considered the industry previously as a career choice. The video focuses predominantly on operational and production roles, as well as highlighting to viewers further career paths available within the sector. The video also works to debunk outdated perceptions and showcase the meat industry as a challenging, diverse and rewarding place to forge a career.
The video has been produced in collaboration with some of Meat Business Women’s corporate members, with all corporate members gaining access to the video for use in their internal recruitment strategies.
Jayne Mizon, Head of Learning & Development from Kepak, contributed to the video and commented “The meat industry offers young people from diverse backgrounds a great opportunity to kickstart their career, with a wide range of apprenticeships available. At Kepak, our apprenticeships offer the opportunity to gain a recognised qualification and hands-on experience whilst earning real money from day one. We truly see our early careers options as pivotal to enabling young talent to develop to their full potential in the hope they will become future leaders in our industry.”
The video will also be distributed across Meat Business Women’s network and marketing channels. It will also feature across their Instagram and YouTube channel, aiming to reach a new audience of job seekers.
Helen Rees, Group HR Director, Dunbia said “Dunbia is delighted to offer ongoing support for Meat Business Women and the work that they do. We are proud of the existing diverse and inclusive workforce we have at Dunbia. However, like the rest of the industry, we have felt the pressures of recent labour shortages. This video does a fantastic job highlighting the challenging yet rewarding nature of the meat sector and the myriad of career progression opportunities available. We look forward to welcoming new talent into our industry.”
Rebecca Fearon Membership Marketing Manager of Meat Business Women said “One of the aims of this video is to help break some of the outdated perceptions that some young people may associate with working in the meat industry. Our mission at Meat Business Women is to help attract and retain the best possible talent to the industry and to do this we have to tackle these perceptions and showcase the industry as a great place to start a career and progress.”
Meat Business Women works in partnership with meat businesses and the supply chain to remove the barriers that stop women from reaching their full professional potential. It does this by focusing on five key areas: changing perceptions of the sector; moving inclusion up the agenda; tackling the broken career ladder; strengthening networks and creating visible role models; and gender-proofing working practices and patterns.
Meat Business Women is the United Nation’s recognised global professional network for women working across the meat industry. It was created to improve the sustainability of the meat sector and grow the pipeline of female talent in this male dominated arena.
Meat Business Women has the strategic backing of major meat processors including Cranswick Plc, Pilgrim’s UK, Moy Park, Dunbia, ABP UK, Linden Foods, Hilton Plc, OSI, Kepak, 2SFG, Morrisons, Coles, JBS, Cargill, Coveris, Avara, Kerry, UKG and KP.