New Local Resources Aimed at Attracting More Workers in Agriculture & Agri-Food Sector
Launching a new career guide, interviews, videos, and workplace tours
For Immediate Release
July 31, 2019
Kingsville, ON – Workforce WindsorEssex, the region’s Local Employment Planning Council (LEPC), as part of their WEexplore Ag project, has launched new resources that will help students, jobseekers, and career changers learn more about the benefits of pursuing a career in the agriculture and agri-food sector in Windsor-Essex.
Local businesses in the County need more people pursuing a career in the agriculture and agri-food sectors as a result of greater demand for their products domestically and internationally, as well as retirements. Workforce WindsorEssex and our partners in education, training, employment, business, government and economic development are keen to share the growing career opportunities in this important sector.
The new resources being announced today include:
- A career guide in English and French covering the top 52 occupations working in greenhouse, winery, fishery, food processing and traditional farming, along with sector stats. This guide also shares information about the skills overlap between declining occupations in manufacturing and related occupations in agriculture and agri-food sectors.
- Five new engagement videos highlighting career opportunities, technology and work environments in the greenhouse, winery, fishery, food processing and traditional farming businesses. The videos will be released every other Wednesday over the next 9 weeks. Today’s video release explores greenhouse careers in partnership with Mucci Farms.
- The organization of Agri-Day on September 24th, 2019. On this day local secondary students and jobseekers will visit agriculture and agri-food businesses in the region. Modelled after Manufacturing Day approximately 500 people will tour businesses in greenhouse, winery, fishery, food processing and traditional farming. Mucci Farms is scheduled to participate in this initiative in September.
- An expanded WEexplore careers tool that now includes all of the agriculture and agri-food jobs listed in the career guide.
- The scheduled release of new Workforce Profile blogs featuring interviews with workers in the agriculture and agri-food sector. These blogs will be released every other Wednesday between August 7th, 2019 and April 2020.
Together, these new resources are designed to help promote the variety of careers available in our local agriculture and agri-food sector to young people, newcomers, career changers and the unemployed who want to find new job opportunities that they may not have considered.
These resources can be found at www.workforcewindsoressex.com/agriculture
QUOTES:
“Workforce WindsorEssex set out to create new local resources that would better convey the opportunities and attractiveness of working in the agriculture and agri-food sector, while also identifying the skills overlap between declining occupations in manufacturing with growing occupations in this sector. There is more than 1600 companies employing 4,900 workers in Windsor-Essex, and demand for talent is high because of high consumer demand for their products and an aging workforce where 29% of workers is 55 years of age or older.””
- Michelle Suchiu, Executive Director, Workforce WindsorEssex
“The Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers welcome the release of the Workforce WindsorEssex Agriculture and Agri-Food Sector Career Guide. This guide will help to address critical workforce gaps in the local greenhouse sector by raising awareness about the potential career pathways in agriculture.””
- Dr. Justine Taylor, Science & Government Relations Manager, Ontario Greenhouse
“We are very grateful to Workforce Windsor Essex for choosing to profile our company for this exciting campaign. As a major employer in the Windsor Essex region, we pride ourselves on offering our community and those that choose to relocate here, a real opportunity to build a meaningful and rewarding career in the fast-paced agriculture industry.”
- Carol Bendo, Director of Human Resources, Mucci Farms
QUICK LINKS:
- Workforce WindsorEssex previously created resources to encourage more people to pursue careers in the skilled trades and tech sector in Windsor-Essex.
- Workforce WindsorEssex collects local job postings from national, provincial and regional job boards to better understand employer demand for talent and to simplify job search via our innovative job finding tools: WEjobs board, WEmap jobs or WEexplore careers. These tools allow jobseekers to search for job opportunities across 14+ sites.
- To learn more about the Local Employment Planning Council and view our current and past projects visit workforcewindsoressex.com/lepc
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Media Contact:
Justin Falconer
Senior Director
Workforce WindsorEssex
226-674-3220 ext 854
jfalconer@workforcewindsoressex.com
