Feature

Employment in the Green Industry: A Labor of Love

By Alicia L. Rihn 1 & Amy Fulcher 2

Assistant Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of Tennessee

Professor in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Tennessee

Labor scarcity in the agricultural sectors, including nurseries and other green industry businesses, has been a concern in recent years. The Covid-19 pandemic caused a domino effect in the green industry where demand for plants exploded, and production increased, meaning more labor was needed to meet consumers’ demand for plants. Further compounding the issue, throughout the country many employees from all walks of life chose to resign from their positions (termed “the Great Resignation”). As a result, the current labor market is very different from years past and constantly changing. However, there is an opportunity for innovative problem solving to improve efficient use of existing labor resources and encourage employees to remain at their current companies. A recent Extension publication series from UTIA examined industry trends related to labor use in Tennessee’s green industry and neighboring states. The report addresses historical employment trends in the green industry at time points spanning a ten-year period from 2009 to 2019 evaluated by geographic areas that included the U.S., a five-state region (GA, KY, NC, SC, TN), and Tennessee only. Understanding these results provides firms the opportunity to see potential trends, reevaluate their current approach, and make strategic adjustments to their businesses. In part 1 of our presentation of these data, we summarize our key findings.

Plants can be grown in a variety of ways which can impact labor needs. Seven different product forms were used in this research, including: containerized, balled and burlapped, field grown bag, bare root, balled and potted/process balled, in-ground containers, and “other” product forms. Trends by form were examined across the three geographic areas and found to be very similar with containerized production representing the largest portion of annual sales, followed by balled and burlapped (Table 1). In the 5-state region and Tennessee, bare root was the next highest category, increasing by 133% from 2014 to 2019, followed by “other”. In the U.S., containerized production increased substantially between 2009 and 2014 with only a slight increase in 2019. Conversely, the 5-state region and Tennessee saw a slight decrease in containerized production between 2014 and 2019. Considering the modest gain in the U.S. from 2014 to 2019 (64.5% to 65.7%), it appears that production levels of containerized products have plateaued nationally, in the 5-state region, and in Tennessee.

Over time, we are observing a downward trend in the number of employees in green industry firms (Fig. 1). This trend is fairly consistent across permanent full-time, temporary/seasonal, and H-2A employees. However, Tennessee experienced an upward trend in seasonal/temporary employees from 2014 to 2019.

Interestingly, the number of employees varies by operations with 50% or more of sales attributed to container production versus operations with other types of production (Fig. 2). Firms growing plants primarily in containers saw downward trends in permanent and temporary/seasonal employees (Fig. 2a). There was a slight increase in H- 2A labor. Firms growing plants primarily using “other” product forms (less than 50% sales from containerized plants) saw a downward trend in temporary/seasonal employees across the time points evaluated (Fig. 2b). H-2A employees decreased from 2014 to 2019 while there was an upward trend in the number of permanent employees starting in 2014. Even at the height of H-2A employment during the survey period, nurseries averaged fewer than 4 H-2A workers.

FIGURE 1. Average Number of Employees in U.S. Green Industry Firms.

FIGURE 2. Average Number of Employees in U.S. Green Industry Firms with 50% or more Containerized Plant Sales

Among container operations in the 5-state region, the number of permanent employees decreased by more than 60% across the 10 years surveyed (Fig. 3a). Temporary/seasonal workers increased from 2009 to 2014 and then decreased to 2019 while the number of H-2A workers remained almost the same between 2014 and 2019. Conversely, in operations growing plants in alternative forms, permanent employees increased from 2009 to 2014 and then decreased by 2019 (Fig. 3b). The opposite trend occurred in the seasonal/temporary employees. H-2A employees decreased by more than 8 workers per firm between 2014 and 2019.

In Tennessee, the number of permanent and temporary/seasonal workers decreased by approximately 50% from 2009 to 2014 and and then generally leveled off to approximately 4-5 permanent employees for both container and other plant operations (Fig. 4a, Fig. 4b). The number of temporary/seasonal workers increased from 2014 to 2019 to an average of 7 employees working in container operations, whereas employee numbers stayed constant at about 3 workers in operations growing “other” product forms within the same time period.

FIGURE 3. Average Number of Employees in Green Industry Firms in the 5-state Region, by Plant Production Firm

FIGURE 4. Average Number of Employees in Tennessee Green Industry Firms, by Plant Production Firm

A key theme of this report is that (in general) the number of employees in green industry firms is decreasing, but at a slower rate in the most recent data collection period. In the next Tennessee Greentimes issue, we will present part 2 in this series that addresses the labor shortage and factors that are impacting business strategies in the green industry. Stay tuned!

RESOURCES

Rihn, A.L., A. Fulcher, H. Khachatryan. 2021. A ten-year review of the southeast U.S. green industry, part I: Labor and firm characteristics. University of Tennessee Extension Publication W 1026.

Rihn, A.L., A. Fulcher, H. Khachatryan, A. LeBude, L.A. Warner, S. Schexnayder. 2022. A ten-year review of the southeast U.S. green industry, part II: Addressing labor shortages and internal and external factors affecting business strategies. University of Tennessee Extension Publication W 1080.