For some time now I have been posting articles about the issues surrounding recruiting and retaining staff in our diverse industry.
Travelling around the country, I get to meet and talk to seasoned professionals, who have worked in the industry for many years. Nearly all of them have major concerns for the future of our industry - in respect of recruiting a new generation professional horticulturalists, greenkeepers and turf professionals.
A recent article on the BBC talked about how 16-24 year olds are finding it increasing difficult to get a job.
“Young people have told the BBC they are finding it harder than ever to get a job, with some graduates frustrated at being turned down for roles at supermarkets," it said.
According to the article, the government says getting more young people into work is a priority but UK job vacancies are at their lowest level in nearly four years.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC), which represents supermarkets, told the BBC young people would be hit hardest as firms cut back on hiring because of rising employer costs and forthcoming changes to workers' rights.
Recruiting young people into the groundskeeping and greenkeeping industry in the UK is challenging due to a combination of practical, cultural, and economic factors.
For many years we have seen starting salaries for groundskeepers are often below the UK average. This combined with an image of limited perceived career progression has not encouraged youngsters to join our the industry.
Youngsters’ perception of the workplace can be viewed as manual, repetitive, and unglamorous. There's also a lack of awareness about the skills involved. Horticulture, turf science, machinery operation, and environmental management are rarely promoted in schools.
Regarding working conditions, the job often requires early starts, working outdoors in all weather, and physical labour, which can deter younger candidates used to office-based or flexible work environments.
One of our biggest problems is that school leavers are not aware of the scale and size of our industry and career opportunities available.
There is also limited outreach by the industry to go into schools, colleges, or online platforms where young people engage, to promote the values and opportunities of working in this industry. Compared to industries like tech, fashion, or media, groundskeeping lacks presence on social media and in popular culture.
Groundskeeping is rarely presented as a viable or respected vocational path, despite opportunities for specialisation and advancement. And there is generally a misconception about skills required to work in the industry. Many assume it's an old-fashioned industry, not realising how modern groundskeeping uses technology like GPS mowing, irrigation automation, soil data sensors, and turf analytics.
For me, I think it is about time many of our key industry organisations stopped working in isolation and began collaborating together to promote the industry nationally. I’d like to see them set up a nationwide campaign to go into every school and tell them about career opportunities - and then create a new pathway scheme to get into the industry. This could essentially be a new apprenticeship scheme that facilitates 5,000 apprentices a year for the next five years. That would mean we could have potentially 25,000 new recruits for our industry in the coming years.
This would require working with all the UK colleges and universities to help facilitate this new programme and getting our hands on some of the government money they have set aside for apprenticeships.
I believe it is an opportunity that could be realised if the like-minded came together.
