2013 Agribusiness Job Report U.S. EDITION
Highlights Unemployment rates in the United States dropped to seven percent at the end of 2013, down from eight percent in 2012. Meanwhile, the number of jobs posted on AgCareers.com increased by nearly 30% in 2013. These encouraging numbers indicate the agriculture, food, biotechnology and natural resources sectors are actively recruiting to fill a variety of positions. AgCareers.com experienced a growth of 12,513 more positions posted in 2013. The following pages provide a review of trends from 2013. Data in the report is based on analysis of jobs posted on the site, feedback from client surveys and analysis of job seeker traffic on the AgCareers.com website. Key Findings The number of applications processed through the site increased by 12%. Total number of job postings in the United States and Canada was more than 56,000, up 29% from the previous year. The number of jobs posted was over 4,600 each month throughout the United States and Canada, with the largest number of jobs posted in the Midwest region of the United States with more than 34,000 jobs. Forty-two percent of applicants were from the Midwest region, followed by the South (30%). Jobs posted ranged in industry type, such as Agronomy, Meat Processing, Equipment/Machinery, Poultry, Crop Protection/Chemicals, etc. which appeal to a large audience of candidates. Another contributing factor to the large number of candidates is the variety of career types, from manager to technician, and more. Through our Recommend to a Friend tool, over 13,000 jobs were forwarded to family and friends in 2013. Jobs posted required a wide range of education levels. Of those positions that specified a minimum education level, 56% required a bachelor s degree or higher. The majority of applicants on AgCareers.com had at least an education level of bachelor s degree or higher (58%). Forty-four percent of applicants had ag-based post-secondary education. Nearly half of applicants had more than five years of experience. *Numbers in the job report reflect North America (U.S. & Canada) unless otherwise noted. 2
About AgCareers.com AgCareers.com is the leading ag-specific job board for recruitment advertising and the leading agspecific career portal for job seekers. We are dedicated to bringing together employers and candidates through our online career portal. AgCareers.com services companies throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and has a growing international presence. With more than 4,600 new jobs posted each month from agribusiness companies in North America, it is easy to see why candidates continue to use AgCareers.com as their top job search strategy. AgCareers.com enhanced the job search experience by releasing the Job Seeker Mobile App in late 2013, available through the Apple App Store. Although it is recommended, job seekers do not have to create an account with AgCareers.com in order to search or apply to jobs. If they choose to create an account, they may save jobs and post their resumes. Employers receive access to the AgCareers.com resume database, making it another tool for employers to find qualified candidates. Job seekers are eager to add their resume to the database; more than 5,000 new North American resumes were added to the AgCareers.com database in 2013, an increase of more than 1,500 resumes compared to 2012. There were more than 11 million page views on the AgCareers.com site in 2013, up 12% from 2012. Nearly 1.8 million visits were made (an increase of 9%), with an average of 51,000 unique visitors each month. Nearly 11,000 job applications passed through the AgCareers.com system on average each month. AgCareers.com is focused on attracting both active and passive job seekers with the use of email marketing and social media. Our weekly e-newsletter is distributed to nearly 190,000 subscribers each week, and the Skill & Trade e-newsletter to over 65,000 subscribers each month. AgCareers.com also regularly connects with thousands of followers on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and new in 2013, Pinterest. AgCareers.com s social media following experienced tremendous growth in 2013 as both job seekers and employers were engaged through relevant content, and participated in promotions and contests (see Figure 1). Figure 1 Facebook LinkedIn Twitter YouTube 2011 1,461 771 709 26,675 2012 5,400 1,818 2,606 290,977 2013 9,000 3,023 4,782 722,683 Increase 67% 66% 83% 148% 3
Trends Not only did AgCareers.com experience growth in social media following in 2013, traffic to the site increased. Visits to www.agcareers.com were up almost 10% and unique visits increased by 17% when compared to 2012. There was also a significant increase in applications processed in 2013; nearly 14,000 more applications (an increase of 12%) were sent through the AgCareers.com site in 2013 when compared to 2012 (see Figure 2 below). Figure 2 APPLICATIONS PROCESSED 2013 131,778 2012 117,894 2011 82,436 Comparing total North American jobs posted for the past three years, you ll see a yearly increase as demonstrated in Figure 3. Total number of job postings in the United States and Canada were up 29% in 2013, reaching a record high of 56,216. More than 4,600 jobs were posted on AgCareers.com each month on average. Figure 3 2013 NORTH AMERICAN JOB POSTINGS 2013 2012 2011 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2013 Total: 56,216 2012 Total: 43,703 2011 Total: 43,226 2000 1000 Jan. Feb. March April May June July August Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. 4
AgCareers.com serves clients across North America and throughout the world. Focusing on the United States, the top ten ranking states for jobs posted on AgCareers.com in 2013 are shown in Figure 4. Iowa remains the top job posting state, followed by Illinois and Nebraska (same as the past 3 years). Idaho debuted on the list and is the only non-midwestern state in the top ten. Figure 4 Top 10 Job Posting States State # of Jobs Posted Iowa 6,092 Illinois 5,772 Nebraska 4,343 Minnesota 3,485 Indiana 3,114 Wisconsin 2,472 Idaho 2,468 Missouri 2,073 Kansas 2,046 South Dakota 1,843 The abundance of jobs in the Midwest region is evident with more than 34,000 jobs posted in 2013, or 65% of jobs posted in the United States (as shown in Figure 5 on the following page). The Midwest region includes the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. The next largest region was the West with 15% of posted jobs (an increase from 10% in 2012). See below Figure 5 for a list of states included in each region. 5
Figure 5 2013 JOBS POSTED BY U.S. REGION South 12% Southwest 4% Mid-Atlantic 4% West 15% Midwest 65% New England <1% U.S. Regions Midwest- IL, IN, IA, KS, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, OH, SD, WI South- AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, PR, SC, TN, VA, WV Southwest- AZ, NM, OK, TX Mid-Atlantic- DE, MD, NJ, NY, PA New England- CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT West- AK, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY AgCareers.com has qualified job candidate traffic throughout the United States, however the largest region is the Midwest region or those seeking employment in the states that make up the Midwest region. This is reasonable as applicant location traditionally reflects where the job opportunities reside. Figure 6 on the following page illustrates the breakdown of applicants in 2013 by U.S. region. The Midwest region had the most applicants (42% of total U.S. applicants). Applicant traffic from the South increased significantly to 30% of the total in 2013, up from 23% in 2012. 6
Figure 6 U.S. APPLICANTS BY REGION Mid-Atlantic Southwest 6% 8% New England 1% West 13% Midwest 42% South 30% Job listings on AgCareers.com are categorized by industry type and career type. Employers can categorize their jobs in 71 different agricultural industry types identified by AgCareers.com, from advertising to volunteer work. Figure 7 on the next page shows the top five industry types for jobs posted in each particular region. When we look across all regions, agronomy is the leading industry type with nearly 12,000 positions posted in 2013; agronomy is ranked in five of the six regions and ranked first in two regions. Equipment/Machinery is ranked in four of the six regions with more than 6,000 positions posted in 2013. Crop protection/chemicals is ranked in the top five in all six regions. Poultry debuted in three regions and attained the number one spot in the Mid-Atlantic and South regions. 7
Figure 7 Top Industry Types by U.S. Region Mid-Atlantic Midwest 14% 15% 11% 19% 41% Poultry Dairy General Crop Protection/Chemicals 15% 18% 11% 24% 32% Agronomy Equipment/Machinery General Crop Protection/Chemicals Agronomy Seed New England South 10% 8% 6% 32% 44% Dairy Crop Protection/Chemicals Manufacturing General Operations 14% 18% 9% 23% 36% Poultry Meat Processing Agronomy Crop Protection/Chemicals Equipment/Machinery Southwest West 14% 24% Equipment/Machinery Agronomy 6% 6% 6% Agronomy Crop Protection/Chemicals 20% Meat Processing 10% Equipment/Machinery 21% 21% Poultry Crop Protection/Chemicals 72% Crop General 8
Employers also categorize job listings by 74 different career types, from academia to warehouse. Figure 8 shows the top ten career types in the U.S. for 2013 with their percentage compared to overall number of U.S. jobs posted. Figure 8 Top Ten Career Types % 1 General 23% 2 Sales/Marketing 20% 3 Management/Manager 10% 4 Production 6% 5 Operations/Operator 5% 6 Agronomist 3% 7 Technician 3% 8 Custom Applicator 3% 9 Accounting 2% 10 Engineering 2% The top five career types posted on the AgCareers.com site remained the same as 2012, although management/manager moved up to the third spot and production moved down to the fourth spot. The general category moved up to the top spot, as employers chose that category as a generic career type due to the diversification of many careers in agriculture. This career type is also the default selection for many automated systems. Even though sales/marketing dropped to the second spot, more than 3,000 additional sales/marketing jobs were posted in 2013 when compared to 2012. Sales/marketing, management, production and operations career type positions are relevant to the majority of sectors. The remaining career types in the top ten illustrate the variety of positions available on AgCareers.com. Agribusinesses continue to dramatically increase their offerings of internship opportunities for students wanting to pursue careers in agriculture. There was a tremendous 82% increase in the number of internship opportunities posted in 2013. There were 1,874 internships posted in 2013, as compared to 1,028 in 2012. Employers are increasingly specifying internship opportunities as the intern job type to take advantage of the featured internship opportunities page on the AgCareers.com site. According to the last AgCareers.com Intern and New Grad Hire Report, employers report hiring 1 out of every 3 of their interns into full-time roles. The site also features a Recommend this Job to a Friend program where users can forward job postings to others. The continued strength of this program indicates the importance friends and family play in the job search process. More than 13,000 jobs were forwarded to family and friends in 2013, an average of 1,118 per month. 9
AgCareers.com collects data on the educational requirements requested by employers in their job postings. Figure 9 depicts these requirements as posted by employers. For positions where educational level is specified, 56% required a bachelor s degree or higher. It is important to note that 29% of all jobs posted on AgCareers.com did not list a specific minimum education level. Unspecified positions accept a wide range of educational levels based on experience. Almost all positions require a GED or high school diploma even if not stated. Figure 9 EMPLOYERS' EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS Doctorate/PhD Master's Degree Degree 4% 1% High School 18% Skilled Trade Certificate 10% Bachelor's Degree 51% Apprenticeship Certificate 1% College/Associate Diploma 15% *Based on job postings that specify requirement for minimum educational attainment AgCareers.com also collects applicants education level. As shown in Figure 10 on the following page, more than half (58%) of applicants had a bachelor s degree or higher, down slightly from the previous year. The largest segment of job seekers had a bachelor s degree (42%). The majority of categories remained mostly unchanged from 2012, although the percentage of applicants with a high school diploma increased from 17% to 24%. 10
Figure 10 APPLICANT EDUCATION LEVEL Doctorate/PhD 4% Master's Degree 12% Bachelor's Degree 42% College or Associate Diploma 12% Skilled Trade Certificate 3% High School Diploma 24% Not Specified 3% Apprenticeship <1% AgCareers.com draws applicant traffic from a wide range of majors and occupations both inside and outside of the agricultural industry. AgCareers.com also asked applicants for their education discipline or major. The highest percentage of applicants had an ag-based degree (44%), while 39% had a non-ag degree. Seventeen percent indicated they had no advanced degree or didn t respond. AgCareers.com also collects data on applicants current or most recent occupation. It was almost evenly split between ag-related occupations (43%) and non-ag (44%), with the remaining composed of ag students (6%) and non-ag students (4%), followed by 3% that did not specify (see Figure 11). Figure 11 APPLICANT CURRENT/MOST RECENT OCCUPATION Non-Ag Student 4% Ag Student 6% Not Specified 3% Ag 43% Non-Ag 44% 11
AgCareers.com is not only a resource for new college graduates, but also for professionals who have a more established career history. Nearly 50% of job seekers had more than five years of experience, which has remained consistent over the past few years. The percentage of applicants with less than a year of experience decreased from 23% in 2012 to only 14% in 2013. A possible reason for this is that more students are pursuing advanced degrees immediately following their undergraduate degree, or they are counting internships and other work experiences when answering this question. Figure 12 shows the breakdown of applicants experience levels. Figure 12 APPLICANT YEARS OF EXPERIENCE 10+ years 36% 6-9 years 12% 1-5 years 38% Less than 1 year 14% 12
Looking Forward In 2013, job postings in the agricultural, food, biotechnology and natural resources industries were plentiful on AgCareers.com, with job postings up 29%. Agriculture companies are anticipating gains and rewarding their employees. Taking data from the AgCareers.com 2013-2014 U.S. Agribusiness HR Review, nearly 98% of companies anticipate salary increases for staff, up from 92% the previous year (see Figure 13). 60% Figure 13 PROJECTED SALARY INCREASES 50% 40% 30% 20% 56.63% 40.96% 10% 0% 2.41% Yes, all staff Yes, some staff No The ranges for projected salary increases vary, with the predominate range being 3.1-3.5%, up from the previous year (see Figure 14). 50% 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% No Increase Figure 14 BUDGETED SALARY INCREASES 0.1-1% 1.1-1.5% 1.6-2% 2.1-2.5% 2.6-3% 3.1-3.5% 3.6-4% 4.1-4.5% 4.6-5% More than 5% 13
Projected retirement numbers remained very similar according to the 2013-2014 U.S. Ag HR Review. Indications show that in the next two years, 48% of companies will have between 1% and 5% of their staff considering retirement. The outlook for agriculture jobs is good, with 65% of respondents to the U.S. Ag HR Review saying they anticipate their workforce to increase in the next two years (up from 59%) and 31% expect it to stay the same. Sixty percent of respondents said they would increase college/university recruiting in the next 1 to 5 years (down just 4% from the previous year) with the majority indicating that was a result of career progression/succession planning and competition for talent. 14
Summary AgCareers.com s mission continues to be a dedication to bring agriculture-related employers and candidates together. Our services are valued by employers and candidates who use them, which are confirmed by the increase in job postings and applications in 2013. To recap, below are a few of the highlights from the 2013 Agribusiness Job Report: There were nearly 132,000 applications processed in 2013, an increase of 12% over 2012. There were almost 53,000 jobs posted by companies in the United States in 2013. The AgCareers.com site averages 51,000 unique visitors each month. In 2013, all of the AgCareers.com social media outlets experienced tremendous increases in followers, from 66% to 148% growth. More than 1,100 jobs were forwarded to family and friends each month in 2013. There were more than 34,000 jobs posted in the Midwest (highest region on AgCareers.com). Forty-two percent of applicants were from the Midwest, followed by the South (30%). Twenty percent of U.S. jobs posted on AgCareers.com were under the sales/marketing career type. The number of internship opportunities posted on AgCareers.com nearly doubled from 2012 to 2013. The majority (58%) of applicants on AgCareers.com had a bachelor s degree or higher. Forty-four percent of applicants had post-secondary education in an ag-related field. AgCareers.com attracts a diverse array of applicants with experience; 36% had 10-plus years of experience and it was almost evenly split between ag-related and non-ag occupations. Ninety-eight percent of companies that participated in the U.S. Ag HR Review projected staff salary increases in 2013-2014. 15