Employment at U.S. meat, beef and poultry processing plants currently stands around 500,000 and is expected to grow 0.4 percent by the end of 2021, according to Meat, Beef and Poultry Processing Industry in the U.S.,” a September 2020 market research report from IBISWorld.
Recruiting and retaining workers was a pre-pandemic challenge and continues to be a concern as plants strive to keep workers safe.