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Careers Research 2022

TIAH is on an exciting journey to become the home of skills, careers and professionalism in agriculture and horticulture.

In 2022, TIAH commissioned research from Family Kids and Youth (FK&Y), a leading global market and social research agency, was published. This research focussed on what barriers to entry may exist in choosing a career in agriculture or horticulture. 

This was a large-scale survey conducted across a mix of locations around England in late 2021/early 2022.  

A diverse range of secondary school-age children and young adults between 12 and 23 took part. Individuals who influence the young people’s careers choices were also involved, such as family members, teachers and careers guidance professionals. 

The summary report is now available to read. 

Female,High,School,Teacher,Sitting,At,Table,With,Students,Wearing
Download the report here

Why is this research important?

At a time when our industry is facing labour shortages, it is also facing an increasing challenge in finding people with the right skills. This challenge – and competition in the labour market – will only increase. 

This research shows us that we need to improve the key information we provide about our industry careers. We also need to demonstrate how working in our industry connects with the wider desires of young people and how our industry connects with their everyday lives. 

Taking this work forward

Despite all the great initiatives across our industry, the young people and teachers surveyed by FK&Y do not explicitly connect these to how they think about careers.  

We need to act in multiple ways to ensure that young people and those that influence them have positive and memorable touchpoints with our industry to influence their career choice. 

This is not something that can, or should be, achieved by a single organisation. As with other sectors, we need our whole industry to work together to showcase itself as an industry that offers a career of choice for a diverse range of people. 

TIAH will ensure that the recommendations of the FK&Y report are taken forward in our careers work. 

Alongside this TIAH is developing the baseline labour market information for our industry to ensure that the key information used in career choices is up to date. 

TIAH is also building the relationships at a national and regional level to ensure industry efforts align with government policy. This will help industry employers have the framework for successful engagement with local careers and skills strategies. 

TIAH’s call to arms for industry leaders

The FK&Y report provides the evidence of the continued need for the industry to be stronger by working together.  

Only by being truly transformative in our combined approach can we prompt a greater number of new entrants and their skills to enter our industry. 

We call upon leaders from our industry and the careers sector to partner with TIAH to co-ordinate industry careers focus and activity and join us at a Careers Roundtable event in September 2022 to kick start this work. Contact [email protected] for more information. 

“This comprehensive piece of market research, building significantly as it does on previous work by Bright Crop, NFU, LEAF and others, will inform TIAH’s work regarding drivers and levers influencing career choice. It also encapsulates, and firmly establishes, the way TIAH is committed to work – namely based on evidence.”
Richard Longthorp OBE, FRAgSTIAH Board Member
“The National Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs (NFYFC) welcomes the creation of a national portal that offers support for skills, careers, and business development, as well as highlights the vast opportunities available within the food and farming industries. “The portal will be an inspiration to all young people, and NFYFC is proud to have been involved in the development of this collaborative, industry project." 
Sarah PalmerNFYFC’s Agriculture and Rural Affairs Officer
“Faced with environmental challenges and policy changes post-Brexit, agriculture is going through a transition, changing the ways in which we farm. To attract new entrants into the industry, including those from non-agricultural backgrounds, we need to understand the barriers preventing them from getting into farming.”
David RoseCranfield University
“Faced with environmental challenges and policy changes post-Brexit, agriculture is going through a transition, changing the ways in which we farm. To attract new entrants into the industry, including those from non-agricultural backgrounds, we need to understand the barriers preventing them from getting into farming.” “This report is an important step towards breaking down these barriers to diversify the talents and skills of the farmers, advisers, technologists, and supply chain managers of the future, who must lead us towards more sustainable farming.”
Christine TaconRed Tractor
“There has always been a great many views and ideas as to the reasons behind why agriculture and horticulture underperforms in promoting the sector as an excellent career opportunity. “It is therefore extremely welcoming to have substantiated evidence through this survey as to the many reasons why this is so, thereby providing a huge opportunity to address these areas in the future and promote our industry as a career to be proud of.”
Chris MoncrieffRoyal Horticultural Society Head of Horticultural Relations
“We need to attract new entrants into the sector to bring diverse talents and views. Farmers’ sons and daughters are essential for the industry but for the sector to thrive, external viewpoints are needed too. “This research commissioned by TIAH, alongside our experience of the industry, shows that we need much more interaction with young people to encourage them into the sector, particularly those who are not exposed to it at school or in their daily life. “Social media, TV and radio programmes, and initiatives like Open Farm Sunday offer effective ways to communicate the massive opportunities that careers in farming and food have to offer, so it’s essential we make use of these.”
Christine TaconRed Tractor
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