Dive Brief:
- Finder.com reports food-processing workers are among the jobs to see the biggest pay increases. The site said the median salary was $35,152 in 2017 compared to $28,444 the prior year, a 23.58% increase.
- Men in the food processing field saw a slightly lower percentage of pay growth from 2016 to 2017, making it to only No. 9 on the list, but they still out-earn women. The survey indicated male food processors saw an average pay increase of 21% year over year, from $30,108 to $36,452.
- The website, an independent comparison platform and information service that aims to provide users with the tools they need to make better decisions, analyzed data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics to uncover the careers most likely to provide pay increases.
Dive Insight:
Food processing workers are responsible for preparing and preserving food items, as well as count and manage inventories of frozen, canned, baked, dried or pasteurized products, according to coverlettersandresume.com. Important duties can include checking and controlling equipment that makes the food, checking temperature gauges, keeping machines clean, or making sure that production lines have a regular supply of raw materials or components.
These jobs might not be glamorous, but they're important for companies. According to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, industries with the highest levels of food processors as of May 2017 are animal slaughtering and processing with 14,230 workers; followed by wholesalers of nondurable goods with 3,900 workers, and fruit and vegetable preserving and specialty food manufacturing with 2,860 employees.
But with unemployment at a 17-year low, it can be hard to find workers for many of these positions, especially for jobs that may be challenging or mundane. To lure employees, companies may need to increase how much they pay people to start and, ultimately, to keep them around.
A similar challenge is facing food and other industries due to a trucking shortage in the U.S. With shipping costs rising and freight volumes outpacing the supply of available trucks, food distributors are scrambling to find a solution to slow the financial burden on their overall earnings. Many manufacturers — including Dean Foods, Tyson, Del Monte, Kellogg and US Foods — said higher transportation and logistics costs weighed on earnings in the most recent quarter.
Tyson Foods' CEO Tom Hayes said earlier this year that labor shortages in the industry have been a problem, and increasing production and consumption of meat and poultry are exacerbating the situation. The company has increased wages and is considering how to take advantage of automated and robotic functions at its facilities. "The labor market will get tighter," Hayes told Bloomberg. "That's exactly the reason we need to be spending more money on innovation. Technology is going to play a critical role."
It's fair to say Tyson and other food manufacturers will continue to boost wages as they compete for scarce workers, facing not only an all-ready low unemployment rate, but also as changes to immigration policy unfold. Similar to Tyson, companies consider looking into technology to reduce the need for human workers. In the meantime, it’s likely they will have to find ways to better compensate workers in order to keep factories fully staffed.