A historically tight labor market and pandemic combined to test the meat industry’s workforce this spring. The result? A reckoning with long-ingrained challenges.
In February, before the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 pandemic impacted our lives in such a huge way, unemployment was at record lows for modern times (3.5 percent), which translates to 0.8 job seekers per job opening, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Agriculture jobs were especially tough to fill as they are primarily located in rural areas and involve physically demanding work, longer hours and weekend shifts.