March 2023 - 16

MANAGEMENT
WORKING WITH A
CHANGING LABOR FORCE
The last few years have presented new challenges for growers looking to fill
jobs and retain employees.
BY HEATHER MACHOVINA
T
he U.S. has record low unemployment, currently
around 3.5%, but our industry is still feeling
the shortage of workers. According to the 2022
Greenhouse and Nursery Labor and Employment Survey
by AmericanHort, employers are experiencing a shortage
of about 20% in their workforce.
PANDEMIC PROBLEMS
Many companies really began to feel the pressure of the
changes in labor once the pandemic hit full force. Justin
Bartlett, co-owner and chief financial officer of Legacy
Labor, says issues with the supply of labor in our country
have been happening since before COVID-19 - it's just
something that the labor force has always dealt with. Our
industry is filled with manual labor jobs and many of these
jobs are not filled by our local workforce because of that.
" I think that it's been like that for several years and it is
slowly just getting worse and worse. And, I think, COVID
coming just magnified that and spread that along faster
than it was going before, " Bartlett says. Most employers
are noticing the shortage of labor, whether they are in the
horticultural industry or not.
More than half of the growers who reported a labor
shortage in the AmericanHort survey agreed that the
coronavirus made matters worse. Along with limited
16
MARCH 2023 GPNMAG.COM
workers, growers say they spent $5,000 on average, per
employee, on COVID-related preventions.
CONSISTENT CHALLENGES
It's been especially hard to find reliable, consistent
workers in the agriculture industry because there are
many manual labor jobs that need to be filled. " The
climate that they're working in, working outdoors, working
with their hands, the manual labor that is involved in our
industry is just tough; it's a tough job, " Bartlett says.
Legacy Labor talks with growers all over the U.S. everyday
that are in need of labor, discussing what their biggest
headaches are and what their biggest needs are -
consistent labor.
The pandemic quickly made the situation worse, due to
travel restrictions reducing the number of foreign workers
coming in to fill positions. Also, being forced to stay home
and shut down operations during that time has made it
hard to get back to how it was before COVID-19, he says.
In 2021, only one-third of growers were able to hire
all the workers they needed, according to the
AmericanHort survey.
Jennifer Moss, hiring manager and CEO of Moss
Greenhouses, says they are fighting the same battles
as every other company in the world. " It is as if you are

http://www.GPNMAG.COM

March 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March 2023

March 2023 - 1
March 2023 - 2
March 2023 - 3
March 2023 - 4
March 2023 - 5
March 2023 - 6
March 2023 - AA1
March 2023 - AA2
March 2023 - AA3
March 2023 - AA4
March 2023 - 7
March 2023 - 8
March 2023 - 9
March 2023 - 10
March 2023 - 11
March 2023 - 12
March 2023 - 13
March 2023 - 14
March 2023 - 15
March 2023 - 16
March 2023 - 17
March 2023 - 18
March 2023 - 19
March 2023 - 20
March 2023 - 21
March 2023 - 22
March 2023 - 23
March 2023 - 24
March 2023 - 25
March 2023 - 26
March 2023 - 1A
March 2023 - 2A
March 2023 - 3A
March 2023 - 4A
March 2023 - 5A
March 2023 - 6A
March 2023 - 7A
March 2023 - 8A
March 2023 - 9A
March 2023 - 10A
March 2023 - 11A
March 2023 - 12A
March 2023 - 13A
March 2023 - 14A
March 2023 - 15A
March 2023 - 16A
March 2023 - 17A
March 2023 - 18A
March 2023 - 27
March 2023 - 28
March 2023 - 29
March 2023 - 30
March 2023 - 31
March 2023 - 32
March 2023 - 33
March 2023 - 34
March 2023 - 35
March 2023 - 36
March 2023 - 37
March 2023 - 38
March 2023 - 39
March 2023 - 40
March 2023 - 41
March 2023 - 42
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/august-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/july-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/june-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/may-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/april-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/march-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/february-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/january-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/2024-guide-to-cannabis-production
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/november-december-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/october-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/new-varieties-digital-guide-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/september-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/august-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/july-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/big-grower-july-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/june-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/may-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/april-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/big-grower-april-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/2023-guide-to-hemp-production
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/march-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/february-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/big-grower-january-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/january-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/2023-guide-to-cannabis-production
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/november-december-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/big-grower-october-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/october-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/gpn-new-varieties-digital-guide-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/september-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/august-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/big-grower-july-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/july-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/june-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/may-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/big-grower-april-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/april-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/march-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/february-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/cannabisguide-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/hempguide-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/newvarieties-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/big-grower-january-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/january-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/december-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/big-grower-november-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/november-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/october-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/big-grower-september-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/september-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/august-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/big-grower-july-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/july-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/june-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/may-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/april-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/big-grower-march-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/march-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/february-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/cannabisguide-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/hempguide-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/newvarieties-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/big-grower-january-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/january-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/december-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/big-grower-november-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/november-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/october-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/big-grower-september-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/september-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/august-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/big-grower-july-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/july-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/june-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/may-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/april-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/californiaspringtrials-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/big-grower-march-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/march-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/february-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/cannabisguide-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/hempguide-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/big-grower-january-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/january-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/december-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/big-grower-november-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/november-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/october-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/big-grower-september-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/september-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/august-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/big-grower-july-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/july-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/june-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/may-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/april-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/californiaspringtrials-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/big-grower-march-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/march-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/february-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/undercontrol-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/big-grower-january-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/GPN/january-2019
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