Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/670981
18 WINES&VINES May 2016 WINE INDUSTRY NEWS S acramento, Calif.—The U.S. labor pool is very shal- low at the moment, with the unemployment rate at a low 5% and wineries struggling to fill most open positions. A panel ad- dressed this situation at the Uni- fied Wine & Grape Symposium in Sacramento earlier this year, and offered some approaches to find- ing the right people—or automat- ing so you don't need them. Since joining Jackson Family Wines, Shanne Malilay, director of talent acquisition, has led the company to treat recruitment like product marketing. "When I arrived, they weren't looking strategically at hiring. There was no recruitment branding, and they had a small budget for hir- ing." They also had gaps in talent in production. Malilay helped the company develop a strategy that included branding the company (JFW) as an employer of choice using mar- keting collateral, event displays and social media. They moved all recruitment and career informa- tion to jacksonfamilywines.com from individual brands like Kendall-Jackson. They actively sought new sources of talent including veterans and individuals with disabilities— "there are huge opportunities for people with disabilities," Malilay said—as well as forming partner- ships with high schools and com- munity colleges for internships. "We wanted to create talent communities to draw on," he added. "We sought to engage pas- sive candidates and build a pipe- line of people who were ready to be hired." This led to enhanced career pages online and frequent com- munications to applicants. "We send a minimum of two re- sponses to each candidate and include a 30-second video clip from employees." They also improved the applica- tion process with editable online English and Spanish applications and technology like DocuSign while continuing to build JFW's presence on LinkedIn, the primary job-oriented social medium, and JFW's Twitter feed. "It hadn't been treated as a recruitment tool be- fore," Malilay said. He mentioned that agencies get 20% to 30% of first year's pay, and Gardner added, "You need to charge your employees to help in recruiting," and sug- gested offering bonuses. Steve McIntyre of McIntyre Vineyards in Monterey County, Calif., discussed the pressures on growers due to increasing scrutiny on undocumented laborers. He said that probably 60% of the vineyard labor pool (60,000- 70,000 people) is undocumented. "If I use E-Verify to check them, I can't hire them." Terry Bates of Cornell Univer- sity in New York talked about mechanizing grapegrowing, ad- mitting that he was addressing only part of the issue. In the past, labor was plentiful and prices higher; now the reverse is true. One result is that labor for at least 40% of the vines is at least partly mechanized. —Paul Franson Wine Industry Recruiting in a Tight Market QST offers its clients……. Professionally fabricated stainless tanks 35 years of tank fabrication experience Performance & reliability guarantees Custom designs & modern features Quick & competitive tank project pricing On site tank repairs & modifications Special application tanks of all sizes "In stock tanks" from 500 to 10,000 gallons 510 Caletti Ave. Windsor, Ca. 95492 Phone 707-837-2721 or Toll-Free 877-598-0672 www.qualitystainless.com Company Website winetanks@aol.com email contact/sales info Custom Fabricated Tanks for the perfect size & fit… or Ready to Ship "Stock Tanks" Either way QST is ready to assist our clients! Call QST today for information or pricing! QUALITY STAINLESS TANKS Vineyard labor is becoming increas- ingly difficult to find in California's winegrowing regions.