Meat+Poultry - January 2017 - 80

E D U C AT I O N

Michael Deal
Mario Rodriguez

"In the past
decade, salary
growth has
been the
highest among
maintenance
managers,
hatchery
managers and
HR managers."
- MICHAEL DEAL

80

state workforce agencies, mobile recruiting
and others," he says.
Especially for hourly workers, pay rate is
a priority, but not the only consideration for
employees who have dependents relying on
their jobs and benefits.
Martin says Cargill offers competitive
pay, adding: "Some of our plants operate
under collective bargaining agreements with
labor unions." And besides hourly wages,
employees are offered benefits and a variety
of adult education support. Cargill and other
processors also assist workers in finding
suitable living arrangements, and in some
cases, transportation to jobs and schools.
"Another related challenge in some rural areas
is a lack of housing to accommodate new
employees and their families," he says.

CAREER BROKERING
Michael Deal, manager of Agri-associates Inc.,
is a veteran recruiter of employees for a wide
variety of food-business related companies.
Deal joined the company in 1979 and focuses
on executive searching and recruiting for
agricultural companies worldwide.
"Any company having anything to do with
food, we work with," he says, and he has
seen plenty of changes in employment trends,
but also says some things have remained
consistent through the years.
In the past decade, salary growth has been
the highest among maintenance managers,
hatchery managers and human resource
managers, he says.
"Maintenance managers will always be
in demand. They have been since I started in
1979, they still are and we see no end in sight."
Likewise, he says demand for processing
plant workers "is very strong and it has always
been strong," as has the demand for hatchery
managers. HR management positions, on
the other hand, have become much more
sophisticated and are in higher demand than in
years past.
Agri-associates' client mix varies year
to year. Deal says, for example, many years
ago, farm equipment companies were big,
but that trend is no longer the sweet spot.
Currently, the company works with a large
number of poultry companies, including
broiler, turkey, layer and even some duck
companies. It also recruits for pork and beef

MEAT+ POULTRY | 01.17 | www.meatpoultry.com

companies, both on the live production side
and in processing. The company recruits for
staff and line management positions. "We
recruit for full-time, salaried positions," he
says, from supervisors to CEOs whose annual
salaries range from approximately $40,000 up
to $300,000.
At any given time it isn't uncommon for
Deal to be working to fill 200 positions.
"Most of the people we are dealing with are
currently employed but are either interested
in or would consider a different or better
opportunity."
Recruiting firms like Agri-associates,
typically fill positions with experienced
workers whose background is similar to the
position being filled. The recruiter maintains
a database of approximately 35,000 resumes.
Applicants can become part of the pool of
candidates free of charge as the company is
paid by the hiring firm.
"Companies pay us to find people,"
Deal says. "We are more expensive than a
newspaper ad."
When it comes to job listings, "There is
always a minimum education requirement and
a minimum experience requirement and then
we want to know the ideal candidate.
"All companies would rather look at
candidates that have some experience as
opposed to those that have none," Deal
says, which includes just-graduated college
students. "A poultry science major has little
to no exposure to and education in running a
processing plant."
Deal adds: "There's never a time when
we've got more qualified candidates than we
have jobs." It takes a more diverse skill set to
supervise all of the positions required to run a
plant than it did 25 years ago, he says.
Food business processes have become
more sophisticated in terms of equipment,
food safety practices and the manner
in which employees are treated to limit
turnover. It's a labor intensive industry, Deal
says, which will always require a high level
of supervision and he doesn't expect that to
change despite an increase in automation.
"They have to not only be able to supervise
and manage people well," he says, but
supervisors and managers must also be well
versed in the intricacies of running today's
technology-rich processing facilities.
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