Food manufacturers face skills drain unless wages rise

By Nicholas Robinson

- Last updated on GMT

Roger Martin-Fagg spoke at the British Frozen Food Federation Conference on February 20
Roger Martin-Fagg spoke at the British Frozen Food Federation Conference on February 20
Food firms face a skills drain, unless they raise wages in line with economic growth, a leading economist has warned.

Speaking to FoodManufacture.co.uk in this exclusive podcast, Roger Martin-Fagg, of Ashridge Business School said: “It’s one of those paradoxes​. What makes sense for the individual business often doesn’t make sense for the economy.

Wages growing at 3% plus

“For the economy we want to see wages growing at 3% plus this year, but of course that puts margin pressure on individual businesses.” ​A tendency to “award the minimum” ​would not be enough to maintain staff, he added and said employers must increase pay as much as they can.

If companies can afford to pay more money to their employees, it will bring benefits to the business in the long-term, although it would not feel like that in the short-term, he said.

Meanwhile, visit Foodmanjobs​ to view the latest career opportunities in the sector.

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