The Harvust Farmworker Survey
Harvust interviewed and polled domestic farmworkers across the West Coast about how they search for jobs, what makes them stay, and what pushes them away. Here are the takeaways, what they mean for your recruiting strategy, and how to utilize them to ease your farm labor shortage.
1. Make the location barrier disappear
When asked what is the most difficult part about finding work? 58% of farmworkers struggle to find a job nearby, but when asked what makes a job better, pay (54%) edges out location (6%).
What to do
- Publish exact worksite addresses. Transparency lets workers self-select before they call. And make sure to list more than just the home ranch or the office. No one wants to be surprised when the office (that they'll never visit) is close to home, but the actual worksite is far away! And even with specialized farmworker onboarding software like Harvust, you don't want to deal with more turnover than necessary
- Bundle short-term housing for harvests. If you have housing or a cherry camp, make it known to workers. For the right crowd, that can be a very appealing benefit that can tip their decision in your favor even if you top-level pay number isn't above market, or the ranch location is remote.
2. Lead with pay and respect
When asked what makes a job better than another? Pay (54%) and how I'm treated by employers (37%) dominated, luckily the latter is cheap to do: treating people well.
What to do
- Pay more. I don't need to tell you that; you're familiar with the market wages and what's financially viable. You're already paying it, and it probably hurts. So....
- Lean in on the good workplace side of things! Things like
- Good supervisors
- Safe workplace (Harvust can automate this!)
- Touchy-feely stuff like praise, birthdays, and holidays (Harvust can automate this, too!)
- This list could go on forever...
- Do something that makes your farm's culture stand out. We have one customer known as the "ice cream farm" because they give out paletas to their employees. Yeah, gimmicks work because they get people talking: "Dude, did you hear the ice cream farm is hiring?"
3. Set expectations before Day 1
Interviews revealed the details of what workers wish they knew up front:
- If the farm was a safe place to work
- Drinking-water quality
- Schedule and days off
- Season start/end dates
- Whether supervisors speak Spanish/English
- Any skill prerequisites
- How often they get paid
Your most effective recruiting tactic: messaging past employees
When asked how did you find your last job? 53% of workers land it through a friend or relative.
A former employee who enjoyed working for you before is much easier to get back than a brand-new person who's never heard of your farm. And even if your past employees aren't available for work, they can serve as your most credible recruiter. This trust is especially important today with rumors of ICE raids making it risky to go to work.
1. Write a recruitment message for SMS/WhatsApp
Just reaching out to last season's employees isn't enough. You need to say the right things, and that's where all of this data comes into play. Here's what to include in the message:
- Name of your farm (mention any gimmicks here)
- The available position
- Pay rate & expected hours
- Farm location(s) with addresses
- Season dates
- Supervisor languages
- Temporary worker housing options
- Skills you're looking for
- Encourage the recipient to share this message
2. Attach a picture of the crop
- Entice them with a picture of your best-looking tree, and let them see the earning potential your farm offers.
3. Send it
- Ensure your message is translated and sent to each former employee in their preferred language.
- Add an audio translation to reach good workers but who face literacy challenges.
- Don't send it to anyone on your no-hire list
