Jobs4Agri: A unique portal for connecting farms with non-traditional worker pools

The proposed project will produce a unique platform solution for farmers, large growers and producers to quickly find, sift, train and on-board workers to cover the looming labour and skills gap in the agriculture industry. This is highly relevant in the current context and urgently needs to be addressed for harvest time in the short term and in the longer-term to make the sector more resilient in managing its fluctuating labour needs. A shortfall of 80,000 workers is expected due to movement restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic preventing seasonal labour coming to the UK.

Key objectives include:

(i) Create a platform that brings together food producers and divergent demographics of people looking for jobs.

(ii) Provide tailored criteria to quickly match roles and skill with proven skills-based assessment techniques, customized for the specific set of roles.

(iii) Provide a platform for delivering quality on-boarding, training and digital skills training

The value to the industry as a whole will greatly increase by integrating training and on-boarding temporary workers, automation machinery and digital skills and leadership training rather than each grower tackling these issues individually.