Our survey concluded that just under 200 jobs were created across 15 machinery companies this year.

Samco, based out of Adare in Limerick, increased its full-time head count by 10, boosting its workforce to just under 50. In Mayo, McHale Engineering took on 20 more full-time staff, including five graduates and nine internships. At this early stage, the company predicts it will create another 10 jobs next year. Conor Engineering in Tubber, Co Clare, noted that business had been performing well, with three newly created positions, including one grad and one intern. Major Equipment took on seven full-time staff to bring the company to 85 employees, as well as taking on five apprenticeships.

Malone created six jobs in 2018 along with five additional seasonal staff. Abbey Machinery continued to expand as it created jobs this year and the company expects to do so next year as well.

Certain skills are hard found

Demand for certain trades in the machinery sector has seen them become valuable assets. It is well documented that there is a major skills shortage in meat factories, across dairy and in the horticulture sector. However, machinery companies are citing shortage for certain types of skilled labour. There is an evident difficulty for machinery companies in attracting apprentices and attracting them seems to be only half of the battle. Keeping apprentices after their training was noted as a challenge also.

The lack of welders in the industry is something that numerous companies have also cited over the last year. One such company who raised this issue was Broughan Trailers in Tullow, Co Carlow. Speaking with Irish Farmers Journal, the company said the lack of welders is representative of how difficult it is to find labour in general.

“We are finding it very tough to find welders at the minute and we have to reward our welders to try and get them to stay. There is no solution to this because there is no young lad taking up a trade at the moment. In general, finding labour out there is difficult. If we could employ 10 more people in the morning, we would,” Paul Broughan explained.

Broughan Trailers created seven full-time posts in 2018, with two seasonal workers also working there. These seven positions were at operative level.

Innovation

With this shortage of welders across the sector, some companies have had to develop other parts of their business to compensate.

Pearson Milking Technology is based in Athy, Co Kildare, and specialises in making milking equipment.

Welders are a vital part of its manufacturing process but the recent difficulty in getting them has led to R&D projects with the view to reducing the need for welders in the business. Lloyd Pearson says the shortage of welders and other skilled labourers has prompted the company to redesign the manufacturing process in 2018.

“Rather than being stuck for specialised labour, we are creating a universal process where everybody can do a particular job,” he explained. Two new R&D positions were created in the company in 2018 to facilitate this development in the manufacturing process in the company, with two more being created in 2019.

“We started the process six months ago and it will take two years to finish. There is a high initial cost in both money and time, because we need to ensure the product is still of high quality and this testing takes time. This may be a long-term investment but it was a forced investment. Recruitment has been an issue for us lately,” Pearson said.

Name: Brian Lawlor

Age: 21

From: Killala,

Co Mayo

Job title: Mechanical automation and maintenance fitting apprentice at Major Equipment, Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo

How did you get the job?

I come from a dairy farm and have a keen interest in agri-machinery. I decided to take the apprenticeship route because I wasn’t sure if college was for me. I’ve always preferred to learn in a more hands-on approach. I saw on Facebook that Major was recruiting again this year for its apprenticeship programme and I applied. After an interview, I was offered a place on the programme. At the moment I am working with the metal fabrication team so there’s plenty to learn here. In my next rotation I’ll be assisting the Cyclone Mower assembly team.

My nine to five varies. Some companies prefer you to learn about the machines and there is theory before you get to the floor. But in Major, they understand that the hands-on approach works really well. In the morning we’ll liaise with our foreman as to what is on the production schedule for that day and week.

The best part of the job for me is knowing you are actually working on machines that you’ll see loading on to trucks and heading off and knowing that I helped make it. The challenges? There is a lot to learn. But everyone is really helpful and takes the time to show me whenever I have any questions.

I would recommend the apprenticeship route and it’s great to see the Government supporting apprenticeship schemes. There’s lots of us who love machinery and understanding how things work. I would not have been interested in college but this is a way for me to learn and get my qualifications at the same time.