The Arkansas Economic Development Commission laid out plans to continue support of job growth in the state's food and beverage industries through 2026 in a report published earlier this month.
"The food and beverage processing industry is booming in Arkansas, and it continues to grow exponentially," the organization's report said, citing state and national data trends.
A spokesman with the economic development group said this is the first report of its kind and intended as a reference for industry employers seeking to expand or establish operations in Arkansas.
More than 340 food and beverage companies employed 48,770 Arkansans, 2017 state data show. About 97 percent of the total workforce is involved in food manufacturing. The rest is in beverage manufacturing.
The state's efforts to attract food and beverage employers comes as companies, particularly animal protein producers, face workforce challenges related to a tight domestic labor market and unappealing working conditions.
"With workers retiring and a manufacturing industry that is struggling to attract applicants from the rising generation, finding skilled [workers] is a challenge for companies in the food and beverage industry," the report said. To combat this, the state and private sector, have invested in education and training facilities around Arkansas.
Rebecca Scheuneman, an industry analyst with Morningstar, follows meatpackers Tyson Foods, Pilgrim's Pride and Hormel Foods. She said "all three have commented about how difficult it is to attract and retain talent, specifically in the more repetitive-motion jobs."
These jobs, which range from meat trimmers and packers to food cooking machine operators and bakers, make up almost 40 percent of the total food manufacturing jobs in the state. State data show there were 18,091 food processing jobs in 2016. By the end of 2017, the state reported a total of 47,297 workers, which include managerial positions, in the food manufacturing industry.
The availability and cost of labor tops the list of concerns for most employers, Christine McCraken, a senior food and agribusiness analyst at Rabobank, said in research published in July.
"Meat and poultry processing industries have fared a bit worse than some others, as work in these plants is considered some of the most physically demanding in the U.S.," McCracken wrote. "Rarely considered a top choice by most jobseekers, these positions are frequently filled by low-skilled, immigrant workers."
In the report, she listed a decline in domestic unemployment, the urbanization of rural populations, changes in immigration policies and a smaller available pool of immigrants as "issues plaguing this labor-challenged industry."
As labor pressures continue, further automation is likely for meat and poultry companies, both analysts said. Scheuneman said the vast majority of jobs will be done by humans, but the ones that "are unattractive or have a lot of body pain" will be automated. And with this, companies may need to swap low-level line workers for high-skilled mechanics, engineers and big data personnel, McCracken said in her report.
The state plans to promote job growth in the food and beverage industries. According to the report, the estimated food manufacturing workforce growth rate over the ten years ending 2026 is 7.63 percent, or 1,380 position openings. Most of the job addition estimates over the ten-year period are in the "meat, poultry and fish cutters and trimmers" category (471 jobs), followed by "food processing workers, all other" (263 jobs), "bakers" (193 jobs) and "slaughterers and meat packers" (144 jobs), according to the state's long-term projections report.
Between January 2015 and June 2018, the state commission has supported 66 economic development projects in the food and beverage manufacturing industry, with 2,204 new jobs and $1.5 billion in proposed investments. They include the construction of a Simmons Foods plant between Decatur and Gentry and the expansion of a Pinnacle Foods plant in Fayetteville.
Arkansas now has the second-largest pool of food processing workers in the nation, according to the report. The average hourly wage in food manufacturing grew from $13.85 per hour in 2007 to $17.75 per hour in 2017.
However, state statistics with the Department of Labor showed that food processing workers in Arkansas earned less than what the state reported. According to the federal government, they earned an hourly mean wage of $11.52 per hour, as of May 2017.
Business on 02/12/2019