Saskatchewan hog barns are reaping good returns from their job recruitment strategies.
Big Sky Farms, which operates barns in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, hired more than 30 workers this summer from colleges and high schools.
Keryn Schenn, Big Sky’s personnel and recruiting manager, said they are able to retain more than 75 percent of their students over the course of the summer.
About half of these students have returned for three or four summers, with four of the summer placements becoming full-time employees.
“It’s just keying in on the right people to come to work for our company,” she said, citing active recruitment in veterinary technician and animal herd health programs at Lakeland College and the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology.
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“The goal is to introduce some of the ideal candidates to the hog industry and Big Sky,” Schenn said.
The company also hosted a student from Lycee College in France this year to introduce foreign students to prairie farm lifestyles.
Schenn said Big Sky has a 20 percent turnover rate in workers, something she calls a success story in the hog industry.
Stomp Pork Farm has similar programs in place. It hires about 30 young workers each summer but has also gone farther afield to find help.
Since December 2004, Stomp has hired 22 workers from China and the Philippines.
Corinne Kelly, human resources manager at Stomp, said many have worked in hog operations for more than a decade.
“They are suited for the jobs we have,” she said.
Stomp’s priority is to fill positions from the communities where the barns are located, added Kelly, who cited advertising campaigns locally, regionally and nationally.
“We did get some, but not enough to fill all the positions that we have.”
Kelly said the new immigrants arrive seeking permanent homes in Canada and settle into communities with their families. That helps sustain the rural communities where the barns are located, benefiting local business and adding to school enrolment.
Stomp has teamed up with Canada Livestock Services of Lloydminster, which handles the international recruitment.
The Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program is a provincially administered program that operates under an agreement with the federal government. The province establishes immigration priorities and selection
criteria to reflect the needs of Saskatchewan employers.
The new immigrants arrive on a work permit and are offered permanent positions once nominee paperwork is completed and approved.
Stomp employs 100 people at its head office in the Leroy district and 300 people across the province.
