Results tagged “food technologist” from Food Job Blog: The inside track on Food Recruitment and Careers

Thousands of graduate jobs are being created in the UK's food production sector as it seeks to replace its ageing workforce.

This is according to Jack Matthews of Improve, the food and drink sector's skills council, who told the Daily Mirror that employers in the industry are "crying out for ambitious recruits".

"The food and drink industry has shown it is resilient to the recession as people will always need to eat, so there are plenty of career paths offering great opportunities for progression," he explained.

The industry was one of the few to actually increase exports in the first six months of the year. Exports of food and non-alcoholic drinks were up 10.2% to £4.82bn according to new research commissioned by the Food and Drink Federation.

According to the newspaper, there are more than 10,000 food production jobs available at any one time, with a number of varied and specialised vacancies that need filling.

There are opportunities to specialise in a particular skill, meaning that the opportunities for graduate recruitment are numerous.

Jobs range from those in manufacturing, food production and product development to food technology, purchasing and sales and marketing.

Opportunities also exist in smaller firms, which often concentrate on the development of specialist products.

A recent study by Improve predicts that by 2017 the UK's food and drink industry will need to recruit 72,000 new workers to fill technical management, professional and skilled roles, including food scientists and technologists. Mr Matthews said that many people simply did not realise the levels of rewards and security available for skilled workers in the industry.

"Food scientists or technologists, for example, can work in a number of different roles. These are the people who develop low-fat chocolate bars, sweets with no artificial additives and help keep the price of food down by developing more cost-effective recipes for popular foods. They are exciting roles to have, and those who reach the top level can command salaries in excess of £50,000."

With that in mind, this is also an ideal opportunity for people leaving school in 2010 to secure a place on one of the many food related degree courses on offer.

Improve, in conjunction with IFST and DEFRA, held an event recently to establish what actions needed to be in place to ensure that there is an adequate supply of skilled food science and technologists in the UK. The afternoon session consisted of a series of workshops to identify and discuss how industry stakeholders can work closer and better together to ensure the required supply of food science and technologists in the UK.

Although the workshops identified many issues within the sector, the most common response was that both industry and education must work closer together to identify what is required to address the skills shortages. The objective of this closer working would be to become more proactive and creative about the provision and quality of courses, but to also increase the awareness and perception of the opportunities available in the sector with school children and students at all levels and stages. At the core of this outcome, is the involvement of the careers service and advisors, subject teachers and parents in understanding the opportunities and options available to FST graduates/qualified people.

After identifying the problems, the workshops focussed on possible short, medium and long-term solutions. As well as tackling educational awareness, solutions put forward included raising the profile of the industry through media events and making food factory clothing more stylish and functional. You can read full details of the findings here.

Everyone is in accord that more needs to be done to raise the profile of the food industry, but will the proposed measures be enough? What attracted you to a career in FST and how would you encourage more people to follow in your footsteps?

In the current economic climate, is this the right time to be searching for a new job? Not only is the country drawing closer to recession but a new wave of graduates has just hit the job market. So what are the prospects for those looking for a career change? The answer, at least for food scientists and technologists, is EXCELLENT!

The lack of qualified food professionals is now so critical that on 10 September there is a summit to enable food and drink manufacturers to discuss the crucial issue of the shortage of food scientists and technologists in the sector.

Food and drink sector skills council Improve has joined forces with the Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) and Defra, to host an employer event looking at the implications of the shortage, and discussing opportunities for collaborative action.

Research from Improve has highlighted the fact that one in four food science and technologist roles in the industry remains unfilled - a shortage of more than 2,000 qualified professionals. With fewer young people choosing to study food science, and many of those that do ultimately pursuing careers in different sectors, it is a problem that's set to worsen unless urgent action is taken.

Although recruitment in other industries may be slowing down, food is fashionable, we love it and more importantly, we need it. For those wanting to change jobs within the food industry, there may never be a better time. Why not check out the wide range of opportunities currently available on the Focus site?

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