A workforce gap
Certainly, the sheer number of sites almost guarantees that all fulfilling and rewarding career paths be introduced or at least mentioned, doesn’t it? And, surely, given the fundamental and universal nature of the food industry, its career opportunities are amongst those featured in these articles.
Or, are they? When browsing one site after another, careers in food safety or sanitation are nowhere to be found.
This should be a very troubling discovery for every food safety professional, because millions of people buy and eat the food that is grown, processed, delivered, transported, and eventually sold by supermarkets every day. In addition, over the past several years, the food industry as a whole has undergone drastic changes as a result of increasing food safety issues, evolving standards, and tougher laws such as the Food Safety and Modernization Act (FSMA), which, in turn, lead to an increasing need for a properly qualified workforce. Despite this growing demand, it appears that the food industry does not focus enough on supporting careers in food safety and sanitation.
The food industry community does not promote enough dialogue, have enough determination, or undertake sufficient actions to educate college students and encourage young people to pursue careers in this important field. I had the chance to talk to Mondelez International research and development interns last summer and present them with the prospect of a future in sanitation, which is the foundation of a sound food safety program in any food production environment. After the presentation ended, the majority of the interns said that they had no prior knowledge of this kind of opportunity. They took interest and asked a lot of questions about the requirements, skills, and courses to be taken that could help them become qualified for this type of profession.
I also conducted two separate simple surveys with a larger reach. While not intended to be rigorous scientific studies, which typically require a large sample size representative of the American population or at least a targeted ensemble, they are certainly more representative of the general population than answers from a few individuals interning at a single food company.
The first survey targeted current students in college who recently (within four years) graduated from high school in the Chicago area. Most of the participants (82 percent) are seeking a bachelor’s degree and are either in their junior (36 percent) or senior (35 percent) years. Participants were asked, “Have you ever learned of or acquired any knowledge of potential job prospects in sanitation (food processing/manufacturing industry)?” In response, the vast majority (86 percent) of them said no. Just 14 percent of respondents reported having learned of a potential career in sanitation, 1 percent of which indicated that they had interned in sanitation. In addition, most of those who said they learned about possible job opportunities in sanitation indicated that they heard about it from someone in their friend or family network (70 percent); 20 percent said they learned about it during a college job fair, and 10 percent of them discovered it while reading online job posts.
