To coincide with this week’s National Apprenticeship Week (13-19 February), The Welsh Food & Drink Skills Project has highlighted the need for new recruits into the Welsh food and drink sector.
The Welsh Food & Drink project launched the first ever collaborative careers material focused on the Food & Drink Supply Chain in Wales.
The Spotlight on Food and Drink in Wales is a 36 page bilingual brochure, and is a concise guide to careers and jobs in the industries that grow, produce, manufacture, supply, prepare, cook and serve food and drink in Wales. The material was commissioned by The Welsh Food & Drink Skills Project partners – the 4 Sector Skills Councils (Lantra, Improve, People 1st Cymru and Skillsmart Retail Cymru) and developed by Careers Wales.
The development of two new priority sectors by the Welsh Government has identified that Food and Farming as well as Tourism are important for providing economic growth and their potential for sustainable jobs growth in Wales.
The Food and Drink Industry is very important in Wales, in terms of the number of jobs it provides, the income it produces and its contribution to tourism. Together, all of the businesses that make up the food and drink industry in Wales employ around 230,000 people. This represents 18% of the Welsh workforce, making it the largest collective employer in Wales. Generating around £6.5bn of sales revenue annually, the industry is, in fact, now the largest combined industry of employment in Wales.
Generally food and drink employers say there are greater skills gaps for technical skills rather than general skills, particularly in primary production, and food and drink manufacturing. Nearly half of all employers say they have identified technical skills gaps in their employers.
Kevin Thomas, National Director Wales, Lantra and project lead said “For the food & drink sector in Wales to thrive it needs employees who are enthusiastic, capable and skilled and that starts with the recruitment. The lack of information to explain and promote the career opportunities in the supply chain was identified during the research stages of the Food & Drink Skills Project. This has resulted in a positive outcome in that the material has been produced and will be a valuable tool for the industry to use to encourage new entrants to join the 230,000 people currently employed across the food and drink supply chain.”
There are plenty of career opportunities across the Food and Drink supply chain, with a wide range of different career paths to choose from. With the correct training and experience, it can provide the opportunity to develop a challenging and rewarding life long career in the food and drink industry.
The Welsh Food and Drink Skills project is supported by the Welsh Government’s Sector Priorities Fund Pilot (SPFP) that also received additional support from the European Social Fund (ESF).
