Research from Mckinsey shows that when employees find their work meaningful, it improves performance by a third (33%).
Work with purpose also leads to stronger commitment – a 75% uptick – and better retention – 49% less likely to leave.
It’s no secret that the food and drink sector faces a labour challenge. Between June 2022 and 2023, ONS data showed a fall of 4,000 jobs in food and drink manufacturing (394k vs 398k), with business in 2023 seeing, on average, a staff turnover of 8.6%.
Whilst more recent FDF data showed that labour shortages in food and drink dropped in Q4 2024, with vacancy rates now at 3.6% - down from 5.1% in Q3. They are still significantly above those in wider manufacturing.
Shop floor factory work is an especially tough sell – with frontline work often conjuring images of uncomfortable, unsocial working environments and repetitive, manual tasks.
In 2023, at Food Manufacture’s annual Business Leaders’ Forum, it was recognised that Gen Z does not consider food and drink production as a career prospect, nor are they aware of the options available in the industry.
Outside of the industry, manufacturing frontline work is often perceived as monotonous, low-skilled role, with no opportunity for progression and a lack of flexibility.
Whilst work on factory lines can be like that, it doesn’t have to be. With the right leadership and support of new technologies, factory work can become a fulfilling and fun career.
On 14 May at 3pm BST, Food Manufacture is bringing together a panel of factory team leaders from Greencore, Arla Foods UK, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP), and QAD Redzone to discuss how the sector can transform the image of food production from a dull dead-end job to a desirable career choice.
The panel will also be discussing strategies around how to motivate and engage workers already in the business to ensure that the work is meaningful, and staff stay on board for years to come.
Register to watch Food Production: From dead-end job to dream career for free here.
Meet the panel
Fran Ball, vice president of production at Arla Foods UK
Fran Ball is VP for production UK at Arla Foods, a farmer owned global dairy cooperative. She is passionate about developing people, diversity and culture to enable manufacturing excellence and this is something she is looking for from this year’s entries into the Employers of the Year Award.
Arla has already launched a clear strategy across its supply chain to attract, retain, develop and create more positive gender representation and is committed to helping attract and promote food manufacturing as a career choice amongst a more diverse population.
Ball will be helping to select the finalists and winners for Employer of the Year and ESG Excellence - which were both taken home by Arla last year, alongside its win of the grand champion prize. Ball will also be part of the Health Hero Awards selecting the best in our industry from the entries in these categories.
Sharon Barlow, operations manager at Greencore
Sharon Barlow is operations manager at Greencore’s state-of-the-art ready meals facility in Warrington. She has 30 years manufacturing experience, including 25 years at Bakkavor, prior to joining Greencore.
In her role, Barlow leads the site operations team of 500 people and is responsible for leading the delivery of the day-to-day running of the factory, whilst at the same time working on the future operational strategy for the site. To support the overall performance of the site, she works relentlessly to engage and develop her colleagues on an ongoing basis, utilising Greencore’s suite of development resources and training programmes.
During her time in the industry, Barlow has seen and experienced first-hand how front-line factory work has evolved and is proudly a champion of creating a more supportive and inclusive workplace, that enables people to be their very best at work.
Ryan Marshall, global account director EMEA at QAD Redzone
Ryan Marshall is the global account director EMEA at QAD Redzone – a connected workforce platform for manufacturing – and boasts a wealth of experience within technology with roles.
QAD serves customers in more than 100 countries across the world with its cloud-based solutions for manufacturers and supply chains.
Karl Probert, supply chain director, CCEP
Karl Probert is responsible for Coca-Cola Europacific Partners’ Sidcup operations as the supply chain director.
He was formally site director of CCEP’s Edmonton site in North London. Originally born and raised in Worcestershire, Probert moved to London in August 2017, where he started his career at our site in Edmonton, as a shift-based team leader working his way through a number of roles and levels of management.
He enjoys building diverse teams and an inclusive environment with high levels of engagement whilst delivering sustained improvements in everything that he does.
