How to improve the attractiveness of professions in the livestock sectors? Current situation and outlook for 2035

Abstract

Jobs in the livestock sectors suffer from a lack of attractiveness. A working group from “GIS Avenir Elevages” has set itself the objective of analysing the attractiveness factors of the livestock sectors jobs, today and tomorrow, in order to think about ways to make them more attractive. This group conducted numerous qualitative and quantitative surveys between 2019 and 2021 to answer three questions: What are the livestock farming professions in tension today and what are their attractiveness factors? What are the expectations of people likely to exercise them? How will the professions in the livestock sectors and their attractiveness evolve within 10 to 15 years? Firstly, an inventory of the shortage of jobs and their attractiveness factors was carried out. Obstacles to attractiveness, common to different professions, have been highlighted: their image is mixed, the pay is low, the working conditions are perceived as difficult, and their access can be complicated. However, certain characteristics of these professions attract young people, such as contact with animals and the diversity of tasks inherent in the upstream sector, and the feeling of being useful to society. Secondly, medium-term prospective work was carried out with a group of livestock experts and professionals. Livestock farming professions were described in four prospective scenarios: an “anti-livestock” scenario; an “alternative” scenario; a “liberal” scenario; and a “diversification and upscaling of livestock breeding” scenario. This work invites us to think about ways to improve the attractiveness of livestock sectors, such as better communication on the diversity of professions they offer and the improvement of working conditions.