Illinois Pork Producers’ Executive Director Jennifer Tirey covers concerns over the lack of labor in the pork packing industry, such as Smithfield here in Monmouth:
“Labor has been a concern with our packing industry specifically, even pre-COVID. I know Smithfield, JBS in Beardstown, Rantoul—they’ve all posted ‘Help Wanted’ signs for a long time. But since COVID, it seems to have applied some additional pressure to these industries, as it has a lot of industries. For us as an industry, we are very concerned because our markets are good, our farmers are seeing good prices, but we also see a lot of hogs moving through especially during the fall, which we are getting closer to that time frame. Not having those employees on the line to help move that product, that’s concerning. And so we are trying to identify ways to educate individuals about these job opportunities: they’re well paid, they have good benefits. And so we’re working with our packing plants across the state to help fill those labor needs.”
Open interviews are held at Smithfield on Mondays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
