Lack of agricultural professionals: why big salaries are not the solution

Small farms, as well as big agricultural companies, face the same challenge – the lack of not only skilled agricultural specialists but qualitative manual workforce as well.  

At least 1/3 of the Ukrainian population lives in rural area. Nevertheless, the severe lack of workforce is well-known to the majority of agricultural companies. Below you will find several explanations on why the demand for workers in the agricultural sector substantially outweighs the proposition.   

The number of urban areas inhabitants decreased by 2,5 mln people while the number of villages by 350. The population of villages especially youngsters relocates to cities due to lack of prospects as even the availability of job doesn’t guarantee decent and adequate living conditions. The majority of villages lack normal roads and permanent transport connection with larger towns and cities. Furthermore, there are no schools and hospitals in many villages while local budgets have no funds for the development of social infrastructure.  

There is a lack of qualified workforce in villages not only in the agricultural sector but in social institutions as well. Rural areas have unmet demand for doctors, teachers, social and cultural workers. Agronomists and veterinarians after graduation from universities don’t want to return back to villages even if proposed a decent salary.  

This trend majorly dominates the blue-collar job market, as very few educational establishments provide training for such specialists. Blue-collar professions are very unpopular, and technical schools, which were recently transformed into colleges, are currently preparing accountants and managers instead of qualified agro specialists. Ukrainian agricultural enterprises spend a lot of money for the purchase of modern machinery which they struggle to use as they lack a skilled workforce.  

The first step towards finding the solution to this challenge was made in November last year when the Cabinet of Minister of Ukraine adopted The List of Priority Occupations for 2017. Such professions as road construction machinery and tractors repairman, lathe operator, milling machine operator, winegrower, and beekeeper are on the list. For instance, there are 2600 vacancies of woodwork machine operators, while only 1426 students are currently learning this trade. The situation with winegrowing is even worse, as only 44 students are currently receiving a corresponding education while there are 1622 open vacancies.    

Living conditions in Ukrainian villages are so poor that residents of rural areas are ready to go abroad to work for the same salary as they would have earned in Ukraine. The following example provided by Alex Lissitsa is very illustrative: during the berries harvesting season, a farmer in the Lviv region proposed to his workers the wage which is equal to the Polish one. Nevertheless, his initiative fell flat and local residents went to work abroad while the farmer had to bring people from Kherson region.   

Fuel, fertilizers, harvest – workers steal everything. Every year agricultural enterprises lose tens and even hundreds thousands UAH because of theft and fraud. Neither good education nor high wages prevent employees of agricultural companies from engaging in fraud and theft. That’s why companies have started to invest more in technologies which allow preventing these harmful practices. Those who don’t refer to techs are forced to recruit more guards and thus substantial increase their expenses.  

For example, the agricultural holding «Mironivskyy Hlibproduct» (MHP) invests in the development of infrastructure around their factories, providing housing to workers from other regions. While constructing poultry plant in Ladyzhyn, Vinnitsa region, the company faced difficulties with finding employees. The thing is that the local combined heat and power station (CHP) was the major employer in the region, and those residents who didn’t manage to find a job there moved to other cities. In order to solve this issue, the company reconstructed roads, built new houses and a hostel for its employees. Now all employees are provided with housing whether it’s a room in the hostel or a two-room apartment. Currently, the city also tops the regional average monthly wage rating. The company continues to develop local infrastructure in Vinnitsa region by investing in the construction of potable water pipes systems, facilitating the attraction of foreign grants, as well as providing assistance to local schools and kindergartens. This approach helps the company to gain the loyalty of local population and easily implement new projects. For instance, recently the management of the company announced its plans to build a new biogas producing plant near Ladyzhyn.  

In Gogoliv village, one of touristic attractions of Poltava region, «Astarta» holding contributed to the construction of the sports complex, which includes baseball and volleyball grounds, professional football field, runaway tracks and chin-up bars. Furthermore, local schools serve lunches for 1 UAH only – a substantial benefit for families with children.  

Besides the provision of work to the local population, it’s very important to build social infrastructure in villages. If people willenjoy the opportunity to access effective healthcare, their children will go to modern schools and kindergartens, do sports and watch latest movies in the cinema, they will stay in villages. Furthermore, there are numerous examples when middle-class employees leave their successful office careers and move to rural areas in order to start their own business. Steady life pace, good ecology, and natural products – all these are advantages of the rural life.  

The initiation of local governance reform brings hope for the development of rural areas. Successful examples demonstrate that adequate and dignified living conditions may be ensured without the involvement of large companies.