By: David Fikes, Executive Director, FMI Foundation
The 2025 Food Industry Speaks research reports that food retailers and suppliers are feeling less negative about workforce issues compared to recent years. The share of retailers reporting recruitment and retention of employees as a negative for their businesses fell from 85% in 2022 to 52% in 2024. While that means labor concerns are no longer the red-hot challenge that they were during and immediately after the COVID-19 crisis, it doesn't mean it has disappeared as a concern. Workforce woes appear to have settled back into being the perennial thorn-in-the-flesh of the food industry that they've always been. They do not loom as large as in recent years, but still the words employee and labor show up prominently in the word cloud describing food industry challenges.
Believing that no one does his or her best thinking when in the throes of an emergency, this season when recruitment issues are present, but not hair-on-fire urgent, is the time to explore some new solutions.
Two years ago, FMI Foundation launched its campaign, Inspiring Careers in Food, with our partner Junior Achievement (JA), offering FMI members the opportunity to leverage JA's strong working relationship with young people just beginning their employment journey. Our members with active JA connections testify that collaboration with JA programming is one of their best recruitment tools. JA continues to develop new levels of engagement.
Those responsible for recruitment are aware that the growing employment opportunities within the food industry are becoming more sophisticated and staffing challenges are not just at the ground, beginner level. Again, JA has programming assistance to offer. In a forward-thinking strategic move, JA is expanding its offerings beyond middle and high school age students and has begun programming for 18-25-year-olds early in their professional career track. This means JA is now in significant contact, not just with those looking for initial work experiences, but also those who are seeking positions requiring specific skills such as marketing, technology, communications and business strategy.
I invite you to join me and Junior Achievement's Vice President for Development, Laura Goodman, in a lunch & learn on Tuesday, June 24 from 11:00 a.m. to noon to learn more about FMI's Inspiring Careers in Food program. Come prepared to learn how your company can engage with JA to assist your strategic workforce planning and talent development, whether you are looking for beginners or people with specific skills.
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