Expert Podcast: Meeting Seasonal Labor Needs in the Age of COVID-19

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CHAPTERS 

[00:03:09]: Recruiting locals via France and Germany platforms 

[00:06:47]: Extending stays in Australia and New Zealand 

[00:07:41]: North America facilitates seasonal worker entries 

[00:09:33]: EU coordination to ease worker cross-border movement 

[00:10:56]: Ensuring returns and addressing community health concerns 

[00:13:16]: Long-term impacts and potential new pathways 

[00:14:58]: Investment calculus amid labor supply uncertainty 

TRANSCRIPT

[00:00:00.400] 

Welcome to everyone. My name is Hanne Beirens and I'm the director at the Migration Policy Institute Europe. In the past week, my colleagues at MPI Europe and MPI have started monitoring the shortages in seasonal workers resulting from the COVID related border closures and travel restrictions. And as these issues are going to take on greater importance, we thought it would be worth having a bit of a conversation about what we're seeing in Europe and around the world. So as we're all social distancing, we've convened Policy Analysts Kate Hooper and Camille Le Coz from their respective homes to chat about the policies and possible policy ideas we're seeing. Kate, it was only a month ago that you and Camille published a policy brief about seasonal worker programs in Europe. And the landscape has since then changed dramatically, hasn't it? So can you tell us a bit more what's going on? For the moment, it's really hard to

[00:00:59.820] 

believe it was just over a month ago. So back in February, we held a webinar that was talking about best practices for seasonal worker programs and ideas to make them operate more effectively. And now of course, this scenario has completely changed. You know, we've seen widespread border closures and travel restrictions in Europe and other parts of the world that have really sort of been intended to try and slow the speed of the coronavirus. But one of the consequences, of course, is that it's basically halted seasonal migration in Europe. And so now governments are really worried about the looming shortages of seasonal workers in agriculture and horticulture and the ramifications for the food supply. Camille, I know that you've looked at these projected shortages in different European countries. Do you want to give us some scary figures?

[00:01:47.350] 

Thank you, Kate. And this is indeed a major concern. Just in France, it was estimated that farmer will now need about 200,000 workers in the next three months, including 87 for April. And this is all very time sensitive given that some crops like asparagus and strawberry will be lost if we don't act quickly. In Italy, according to farm organization, about 370,000. Sorry, 370,000 workers are needed every year, including 50,000 for the spring. And in Germany, estimates indicate that the country needs about 300,000 seasonal workers in the next few months. So this is a significant gap and country have started to think about how to address this situation.

[00:02:31.860] 

Yeah, I know that we've seen governments sort of opting for a bit of a multi pronged strategy to address these shortages. So on the one hand, they've been exploring options to redeploy local workers, especially those who've been recently laid off. But we've also seen them looking into options to expand the stay of seasonal workers who are already present, and then also thinking about ways in which they can facilitate continued admissions of seasonal workers where it's safe. Camille, I know that France and Germany have both set up new platforms to try and recruit local workers for these jobs. Could you talk a little bit about how they work?

[00:03:09.450] 

Yes. So France and Germany have actually reacted quickly and they've not, as you said, set up this online platform to organize the rapid recruitment of people to meet these pressing needs. They're mainly targeting recently laid-off workers, but also students. And what we've seen is they've met rapid, I mean, very quick enthusiasm. And in just a few days in France, for instance, there were over 100,000 people who registered via the platform. But it remains to be seen whether this job offer will translate into actual job. And already the analysis of the application shows that many are not relevant. Many of these applicants also have no experience for jobs that still require a certain level of skill. And this raises a question on, you know, how to quickly select people with prior experience or how to organize quick training on the job training for the others. And finally, I think there is a question how to retain them for the whole season for jobs that are pretty, that are very difficult to do.

[00:04:12.710] 

So it sounds like it is a promising option, but maybe not a perfect substitute for all of these seasonal workers who usually come in. Hannah, I know that Belgium has just passed a law that would extend the stay of seasonal workers who are already in the country. Do you want to talk a little bit about what this entails?

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Thanks, Kate.

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Yes.

[00:04:31.430] 

This issue was also very prominently in the news over the last two weeks in Belgium, where farmers really pleaded with the government to do something because a lot of crops are threatening to not be harvested in time. And similar to what Camille was saying is that there's been these kind of platforms being set up, but the government, of course, realizes that that's not sufficient. So one thing that they've been working on is a law that will allow seasonal workers to stay in the country for a longer period of time. So they're trying to tap into the labor force, the seasonal labor force that's already in the country. And so about five days ago, they agreed that the number of days that seasonal workers can be in the country would be up to 100 days. So just to give a bit of a background how it was done in Belgium before seasonal workers were allowed to work for about 30 days when they were deployed in agricultural sector, when it came to the fruit picking sector there, they could stay up to 65 days per year. And then in certain sectors there was even the possibility to work for 100 days, such as when seasonal workers are employed to pick mushrooms.

[00:05:47.740] 

But that was quite a complex system. And especially in a situation like today, when there's just so much work for so limited number of people, it's really important that that number of days went up. So Hilde Vautmans, who's a member of the European Parliament and who's been really fighting for this, she originates from a region in Belgium where there's a lot of fruit picking sectors. So she is explained that this is really a good step forward and that even this year within Belgium, they've decided to make an exemption and to double this number to 200 days because there will be so much work. But next to that, she's just also recognizing what Camille said, and what you said is that there also need for other steps to be taken. But Camille, are there also, like other countries considering something similar to extend the stay of seasonal workers?

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Yes, exactly. So in Australia and New Zealand, for instance, the season has started and seasonal workers have already arrived. So government are not taking measure to allow people to renew or to extend their stay if they wish. But these options still raise a number of legal and logistical issues. First, how to expand to stay. While this program usually ensures that this migration is strictly temporary, had to link seasonal workers with employers and also had to support them in between jobs. So as we've seen, I mean, extending the stay of seasonal worker is an option. But there has been also discussion about lifting travel restriction for seasonal worker, considering them as is central workers. Maybe Kate, you can tell us a bit more about what you've seen in North America about that?

[00:07:41.320] 

Sure. So I mean, Canada and the United States both rely on recruiting large numbers of seasonal workers for agriculture and horticulture. So they've both taken steps to try and facilitate entries while they still can. So you've seen Canada adding seasonal and temporary workers to the list of people who are exempt from their travel ban, which came into effect a couple of weeks ago. So on their end, seasonal workers can still enter normally. And then the United States has taken steps to make it easier to issue visas to first time seasonal agricultural workers. Typically, if you were coming to the US for the first time, you'd have to go for an in person interview in an embassy or consulate. But obviously with the closure of many of these embassies and consulates, that was threatening to really impact the numbers of seasonal workers who've become. So that's the sort of step that the U.S. Has taken to waive those requirements. But it's worth remembering, of course, that it's not just destination countries who have introduced these restrictions. I mean, another issue that's present both in the North American context and in Europe is that a number of countries of origin are really concerned about their nationals traveling and if imposed restrictions.

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So in the North American context, one issue is that you've seen a number of Central and South American countries closing their borders on a temporary basis, and we're also seeing that dynamic play out elsewhere. So in Europe, for example, Morocco has closed its borders, which is really significant for countries like Spain and France that would typically recruit large numbers of people from that country. Hannah, I know that in Europe there's been a sort of conversation about how to lift travel restrictions within the EU, obviously, sort of within the parameters of health and safety considerations. Could you give us a little bit of an update on where those conversations are at? Yes.

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Thanks, Kate. There's been a number of letters going from, for example, federations or umbrella organizations of horticulture organizations to either directly to the commission, like in Belgium or in the Netherlands, to the Dutch government to really urge the EU to take action in this respect and to make sure that the free movement of goods and of workers is secured in that respect. Also, we see different governments working on a vignette or some kind of clear signaling that would allow seasonal workers trying to come to, for example, the Netherlands or Belgium and now stuck at the borders that they can really signal that they've been recruited and that they've been given a job there and that it's very easy for the border management staff to recognize these kinds of forms in that respect. Also, the European Parliament has recently stepped forward and said, look, it's really important that these kind of issues are addressed, but also that the European Commission makes sure that it coordinates these actions. As you can imagine, if we have all different kinds of vignettes circulating, it makes it very difficult for border management staff to recognize those and to quickly react and allow people to proceed.

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But as you also said, Kate, another thing, one thing is making sure that people can enter, but also seasonal workers themselves want to just know that they will be able to return home to their home country if suddenly the work ends or for other reason it is stopped. And as you were giving examples there, also in the Netherlands, farmers have been reporting that police workers just left overnight and returned to Poland because they really were concerned that eventually travel restriction would prevent them from going home. So that's a really key measure. And in that respect, I just want to check also with Camille, one of the things that we need to consider if these border restrictions are lifted or are partly lifted to allow these seasoned workers to come in. Of course, there's a lot of health concerns that are still present within communities about new people entering, but also about maybe some of the working conditions in which the seasonal workers are operating and that may result in further spreading any kind of diseases and those kind of things. So could you tell us a bit more about what you feel are some of the key concerns in that respect?

[00:12:13.600] 

Yes, and that's really main concern moving forward. What we've seen is that already a country like Canada has established procedures such as quarantine for worker coming in. And in the next months it is possible that more systematic and comprehensive measures could be deployed, including testing. Now, once in the country, it is critical for government to work with workers and to establish health and safety guidelines for the workers in these farms, which can be particularly challenging given the nature of the work and for example, the housing situation for all of these workers. Government are also going to need to ensure access to health care and sick leave for all of these workers during their stay. And finally, they're going to have to coordinate with countries of origin on how to organize return in a way that is safe, including for origin countries, while also developing contingency plans for seasonal workers if they get stranded, for instance, due to further travel restriction.

[00:13:16.540] 

Thanks, Camille. If you look into the bit into the future and think about some of the longer term consequences of this kind of crisis and how the sector may adapt itself to try and make sure that it has sufficient labor to of course, get the producer it needs to get. Can you just outline some of the things that you may see happening in

[00:13:38.660] 

the next couple of years? Sure. I mean, I think that as Camille said, there are now some public health considerations I think will get folded into admission procedures more generally. I think it's reasonable to assume that we'll see some of these screening measures being carried forward. But I think that if we take a step back and think about a scenario where there's a prolonged border closure, there may really be some pretty lasting effects on these operations. So if we see some countries keeping their borders closed for longer periods of time, we may end up seeing sort of new pathways emerging between destination countries and countries of origin that may open up their borders. So we may see workers traveling from one country to another country that may not have previously had many people going between the two. So that may be one effect. And I think that if producers continue trying to recruit locally, we may see some costs rise as a result of this. They're thinking about addressing some of the systemic issues that Kimi outlined about wages and working conditions. Then it could be that the costs of these operations rise and that in turn might make some of the agricultural producers really revisit some of their options to invest in automation or in mechanization to replace some of these seasonal roles altogether.

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You know, if there's a scenario where there's continued uncertainty about the supply of labor and where it's coming from, this really might change the calculus for some of these longer term investments.

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Thanks, Kate. I mean, it's interesting to hear these different kind of options because there's both options where there may be a higher appreciation for the food sector and for those who are now in these kind of special moments, responsible for making sure that we all have food on our plate. So that appreciation may result in a greater remuneration of workers, as you say, or different kinds of agreements, working conditions, but it also may result in, in greater automation and different kinds of labor being deployed in these sectors going forward. So important measures up ahead. Thanks, Kate and Camille, for joining me in this conversation about seasonal workers and what we may be seeing in the next couple of weeks and months as different countries seek to deal with this very pertinent issue. And I would like to thank everyone for listening in.