Beat the Brexit labour shortage – 5 reasons
to automate your food transfer processes
T
he food and drink industry employs the highest
share of EU migrant workers compared with
any other UK sector (30 per cent) . In fact, with
around one fifth of the two million EU nationals
working in Britain employed in the food and drink
chain, the industry is set to be impacted as a result
of Britain’s decision to leave the European Union. But
as the door begins to close on cheap manual labour,
it paves the way for greater uptake of automation,
increasing productivity levels among the UK’s food
processors at the same time as filling the labour
shortage…
Despite the fact that a new political relationship
between the UK and the EU doesn’t officially begin
until 31 December 2020, Brexit is already affecting
European workers’ attitudes. A recent Food and Drink
Federation (FDF) survey found that 47 per cent of
companies in Britain’s food supply chain – which
includes farms, food processors, supermarkets and
restaurants – said their EU workers were considering
their future as a direct result of the June 2016
referendum.
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Alongside labour, productivity is also an issue – food
and drink producers’ revenue per worker fell by five
per cent in 2016, due to an increase in labour costs
that year to £8.6bn, up from £8.2bn in 2015 .
But it’s not all doom and gloom. The government has
earmarked £90m for a ‘Transforming Food Production’
programme, to harness AI and robotics in the agri-
food industry. And with the future status of EU
migrant workers still uncertain and the squeeze on
labour costs set to worsen following the impending
National Minimum Wage rise in 2020, many food and
drink businesses are now turning to automation to
fill the growing labour gap and increase their overall
productivity.
One area which is ideal for automation is product
transfer. Using an automated pump in place of manual
labour brings multiple benefits and can improve
efficiencies in a number of ways. Here, we look at the
five key reasons for food companies to get ahead of
Brexit and the productivity problem by automating
their product transfer processes…