Straggle Muster 150 - 8/4/2005

Shearing To The Future - Robert Pattison, Tectra.

There is a problem with attracting young people to the wool harvesting sector, but the situation has got better over the past 2-3 years.

It could be argued there are presently sufficient numbers of shearers to get our sheep shorn, but there maybe peaks (Dec, Jan, Feb) when there will be shortages and farmers may have difficulty getting shearers when they want them. Forward planning by individual farmers may alleviate some of the problem.

Shearers are now an international work force. Overseas shearers' are an asset for NZ, as they help fill the shortages at peak periods. There is a risk that if these people didn't come to NZ, then there could be shortages. Conversely, there are many opportunities for NZ shearers to find work overseas, offering the chance to fund international travel.

The wool harvesting sector also offers young people the opportunity to earn while they learn. The shearing patterns in NZ offer opportunities for earning income between University and Polytechnic semesters. The average age of shearers could be a problem, but many older shearers are still in the industry because of choice. These older shearers' are an asset, as they set the standards for young people to achieve.

Training
Tectra trained 500 learners last year. Possibly 70% of the trainees are still in industry. Farmers have to accept they may need to have a learner shearer on one stand. For young people who have the physical strength and ability to shear, the job offers a good source of employment and income to earn while they learn. The shearing season in NZ fits in with University and Polytechnic terms. The Dec to Feb period is a peak shearing time, so people can work 7 days a week and earn $1000 to $1500 per week. Wool-handling and pressing wouldn't be as high, but could be $500 to $800 per week. Earning capacity depends on weather patterns, periods of wet weather can provide inconsistent work opportunities. People have to enjoy the life style and physical requirements of the job. Long hours, the work is physical and repetitive, along with highly variable working and living conditions. The job also requires the ability to travel and live in temporary accommodation facilities often in isolated locations around rural NZ.

Age
The age demographics show a distinct trend towards older shearers. 23% are over 40 years of age. Compounding this is the large number (30%) of shearers that are between 30 - 40 years of age. Assuming a continuing decrease in numbers of new entrants to the industry and a need for older shearers to remain actively involved, over the next ten years this demographic "bulge" will move into the 40 - 50 age bracket, thus increasing the number of shearers over 40 to 53% of the workforce. By comparison, wool handlers and pressers have a more youthful age demographic with only 19% over the age of 40.

Impacts on Meat & Livestock Industry
There will almost certainly be ongoing shortages of skilled shearers in the medium to long term if observed trends are not reversed. It is likely that the more experienced and highly skilled shearers will continue to be lost to an ever-increasing demand for overseas shearers in Australia. Many skilled shearers are tempted to go to Australia every year due to the much higher wages and more generous tax incentives available to shearers than in NZ. History shows this is at a time when seasonal work opportunities are comparatively quiet in NZ, but as workloads become increasingly consistent there is potential for these migrations to adversely affect staffing levels in NZ. This would further compound shortages predicted from past analysis of age demographics. Industry surveys and discussion have indicated that while there has been an increasing severity of staff shortages for some time, the coming year is likely to see empty stands for the first time. This is likely to impact most negatively on timeliness. Farmers are likely to begin experiencing delays in both the time taken per job and getting the job started. Significant increases in costs are likely as contractors compete for staff from a shrinking workforce.

The quality and skill level of staff employed is also likely to be lower. In the past many of the people entering the shearing industry were from a rural and farming background, however many new entrants to the industry are now coming from an urban background and do not have the same understanding of farming, attitude, commitment or work ethics. The present emphasis on increasing meat production and the use of multiple bearing high fecundity breeds (Finn, East Friesian) will increase the trend towards mid-pregnancy shearing to improve lamb birth weights and survival. Farmers who experience delays due to a shortage of shearers and miss the window of opportunity for mid-pregnancy shearing will not gain the benefits and lambing percentages could fall.

These trends will ultimately impact on the overall efficiency and profitability of the national sheep flock. The wool harvesting industry could easily reach crisis point within the next five years and immediate steps need to be taken to rectify the situation.

Training
All training courses, with the notable exception of pressing courses, have a very high level of awareness and also a very high level of satisfaction.

In-shed training and trade days are very popular, but have limitations from a training perspective in that the trainees are under the pressure of work and maintaining through put.

Farmers are generally satisfied with the level of competence and the general work ethic of their shearing contractor's, shearers and wool handlers. There is some concern regarding the basic skills of record keeping, level of organisation and overall ability and work ethic of some wool pressers. Where contractors/farmers have experienced excellent staff they are prepared to rearrange their work priorities in order to provide consistent work throughout the year. Farmers generally view staff training as the responsibility of the shearing contractor. Shearing contractors generally view internal staff training as the responsibility of outside training organisations. Internal training undertaken generally involves OSH requirements, new staff induction and general supervision/quality control by a senior staff member.

Workloads
A recent survey of farmers and shearing contractors shows there are two distinct quiet periods where all regions show a definite drop in activities, during April/May (tupping) and September/October (lambing). Outside of these periods, most shearing contractors manage to maintain a "very busy" or "steady" level of work.

The notable exception is the Upper North Island, where workloads in this area peak sharply over the June/July period (mid-pregnancy shearing), and drop off quickly, with workloads remaining low for longer over lambing than in other areas. Similarly, workloads increase sharply from November through to January (main shear), and again drop off sharply and remain low throughout autumn. This "feast or famine" trend for the Upper North Island would appear to be a result of smaller flocks and lower sheep numbers. Contractors in this area are likely to experience difficulties in sourcing and retaining reliable skilled staff due to highly variable and inconsistent workloads.

Issues and opportunities
There is recognition from within the wool harvesting industry that an acute shortage of skilled staff, particularly shearers but also wool handlers and pressers is imminent. Negative impacts on timeliness and quality of job are likely to be seen in the near future.

Legislative compliance is becoming increasingly difficult and costly to shearing contractors and, combined with staff shortages and competition within the industry for staff may lead to an overall increase in wool harvesting costs. More young people are required in the industry to counter a progressively ageing population. The direct promotion of lifestyle, remuneration and other benefits of shearing (travel, competitions) to students at schools, colleges and universities is seen as crucial to promoting shearing as a career path.

Closing the gap between learning to shear and becoming employable is also vital to allow more new entrants to gain employment. Subsidies on wages, supervised "learner gangs" and/or shearing academies are viewed most favourably as options to close this gap. Overcoming the hurdle experienced by new entrants attempting to enter the wool harvesting industry in the period between gaining basic skills and becoming an economically viable employee could be achieved in a number of ways.

A combination of methods may be appropriate.

1. Wool Levies used to provide subsidies on the wages of new entrants until a pre-determined target is met (e.g. number of sheep shorn per day, level of qualifications achieved etc).

Subsidised workers would partially compensate contractors for the reduced profitability and increased costs associated with inexperienced shearers, thus improving the likelihood new entrants would find employment and be retained within the wool harvesting industry.

Potential benefits of such a system would include: Increased rates of retention of new entrants, encouragement for employers to take on new staff and total costs of training shared by contractors and farmers for the longterm benefit of the industry.

Potential pitfalls of such a system may include:
If the subsidy is set too high or new entrants remain eligible for too long, there is the possibility that employers would seek to employ less experienced shearers in preference to more experienced shearers, forcing skilled workers offshore and reducing the quality of the NZ wool clip. A subsidy based on tally (i.e. subsidised until able to shear a certain number of sheep per day) may provide a disincentive to employers to send staff to do further training. Again, if the subsidy is set too high, it may work out cheaper to have slower staff receiving a subsidy than to get them to improve their tally and become unsubsidised.

2. Meat & Wool New Zealand to promote the wool harvesting industry to schools, this could be part of a wider promotion of Sheep and Beef farming in general.

Promotion needs to focus on:
Short-term involvement with the industry - to fund a goal or studies.
Option to productively "fill in" time while decisions on long-term careers are made
- Provision of work experience/ethic, Remuneration, Travel, Competitions, Teamwork, Fun.

3. Link remuneration to qualifications.
Linking remuneration to qualifications (as already occurs with wool handlers) results in more experienced and/or more qualified shearers receiving commensurately higher wages, reflecting higher level of profitability to the contractor. It would also simultaneously encourage further training among staff with subsequent improvements in technique (i.e. injury prevention of both shearer and sheep), speed and quality. While linking remuneration to qualification level will ultimately benefit the wool harvesting industry as a whole, alone it is unlikely to be able to solve the employment gap problem.

4. A single organisation adopts the responsibility to supply fully trained and competent shearers to the industry. (A Shearing Academy) It is estimated that on average an Introductory level new industry entrant would require approximately 50 - 60 full days of hands on shearing, interspersed with professional training courses, to initially achieve 200 sheep shorn/day. This time would need to be considerably extended for the trainee to achieve 200 sheep/day on a consistent and ongoing basis. (This time need not be completed concurrently, but could be spread over a number of months).

The estimated cost of providing this training and practice, if supplied by a training provider in its entirety, would be in the order of several thousand dollars per trainee. The cost of training could be reduced by integrating the "Shearing Academy training model", with the short-term placement of trainees with selected contractors to gain industry experience. Funding could be derived from;
a. A fee chargeable to contractors when hiring of a new staff member from the Academy.
b. Government training funds
c. The wool levy.

This concept would spread costs three ways, with the government supplying the funds for initial education and training programme, and farmers and shearing contractors making a proportional contribution to the future sustainability of the wool harvesting industry.

Careful attention to the length of time for trainees in a Shearing Academy training environment would be needed, as there is potential to "institutionalise" individual trainees and reduce their suitability for industry employment.

5. Reduced wages/charge out rate for new entrants in return for work experience.
a. Formation of a "new entrants team"
i. Reduced charge out rates to farmers = compensation for increased animal injuries and time involved.
ii. Minimum wage pay scale till sufficiently experienced and/or qualified = compensation to the contractor for reduced profitability and increased supervision/mentoring.
iii. Mobility to ensure the team is working in areas not already being fully serviced by local contractors during peak times = complementary rather than competition.
iv. Participating contractors would have first call on trainees to fill their own business needs.
v. Reduced "placement fees" to contractors if the model in 4) above is in operation.

b. Selected placement of new entrants or sections of the "new entrants team" with contractors
i. Regular training "in shed" by training providers.
ii. Mentoring and supervision by contractors.
iii. Additional compensation to the contractors in return for work experience and training, either via reduced rates of pay or increased levels of training for other members of the team.

6. Utilisation of farmer networks to keep new entrants working all year round on farms, even if no shearing is available. a. Potential issues of "headhunting" may arise and losses of staff to farm jobs
b. Potential conflicts with OSH and other regulatory requirements e.g. use of hazardous chemicals/machinery etc when not fully trained.
c. Important that farmers hire staff individually, rather than shearing contractors becoming an "employment agency" for general farm staff.

7. Specific promotion of short term careers in shearing to students undertaking courses provided by Universities, Agricultural Training Providers. Focus should be on:
a. Remuneration
b. Workload
c. Timing
d. Fun

8. Tax incentives for wool harvesting trainees in a Government accredited training programme, or apprenticeship.

Robert Pattison
Tectra Otago Regional Manager
robert.pattison@tectra.co.nz.

To sign-up for your weekly copy of the Straggle Muster newsletter click here, fill in your details and we'll add you to our list of "Musterers."

Return to the "Musterers' Archive" by clicking here.