There’s four jobs for every OAC graduate, the report says
By Diego Flammini
News Reporter
Farms.com
An Ontario-based organization dedicated to promoting agricultural education is happy about the findings of a recent a University of Guelph report.
Planning for Tomorrow 2.0, commissioned by the Ontario Agricultural College (OAC), says there are four jobs for every OAC grad. That number is up from the 2012 figure of three jobs per grad.
And having those hard, tangible numbers is beneficial, says Colleen Smith, executive director of AgScape.
“There’s always been multiple jobs for every grad, so I really enjoy when OAC comes out with an update,” she told Farms.com today. “There’s nothing like facts and figures to back up our stand (that agriculture education is important).”
The survey of 123 Ontario ag employers unearthed a number of statistics, including:
- 44 per cent of food employers and 56 per cent of agricultural employers project a general increase in the average number of new hires over the next five years.
- 77 per cent of food employers and 79 per cent of agricultural employers prefer the formal training of food and agriculture graduates.
- 50 per cent of food employers and 57 per cent of agricultural employers say more than half of their employees require or have post-secondary education.
- 51 per cent of food employers and 67 per cent of agricultural employers report difficulties finding recruits.
Agriculture in Canada employs one out of every eight people, according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
But some Canadians may be surprised by that number because they’re not aware of the variety of opportunities in the sector, Smith said.
“I think one of the core issues is that many don’t think of the diversity of the sector as a whole,” she said. “They don’t think of the broader spectrum of agriculture and focus on their specific niches.”
And those who feel the move towards automation and robotics in agriculture is detrimental to job creation may be mistaken, Smith added.
“We heard that (sentiment) 20 years ago when people said computers will allow us to work four days a week,” she said. “Technology does not cut jobs but it diverts skills to where you need technicians and maintenance people and forward-thinking scientists.”