The Irish meat industry accounts for €3.7bn of Irish exports, with beef the largest at €2.4bn, pork €570m, poultry €320m and sheep meat €230m. The remainder is made up from livestock exports.

Career opportunities are available across the entire industry, from livestock markets through to the major meat processing companies.

The meat processing companies employ tens of thousands of people with a vast range of skills. There are employment opportunities for all skills and abilities, from specialists with a PhD, through various third-level graduates and manual skilled and semi-skilled workers.

The perception of meat processing may be of an unpleasant, cold, working environment with heavy manual work. Historically, that may have been true, but investment in facilities and automated equipment has reduced the physical demands on manual workers considerably in recent years.

As many, including Kepak, ABP, Dunbia and Irish Country Meats, are large multinational businesses, there are several opportunities beyond the factory floor.

There are many sales and marketing opportunities, where language skills and enthusiasm for travel are essential, given the export nature of the business. This export focus also creates many opportunities for working in logistics, arranging deliveries to all parts of the world.

From it to HR

Computerisation has transformed meat processing, with scanning replacing writing, and with that comes a requirement for staff with IT skills to keep current systems running and, more importantly, devise new and improved ways to use IT to make businesses even more efficient.

Ever increasing food safety and quality assurance demands have created the need for companies to develop their laboratory capability. These laboratories require science graduates and ancillary staff with a scientific interest to operate them.

As many companies are now large multinational businesses, some with turnover in excess of €1bn, a high level of corporate governance is also essential. This creates opportunities for graduates and ancillary staff in accounting, HR, and other administrative and management skills.

Graduate trainee programmes

The top meat-processing companies across all the species have comprehensive graduate trainee schemes and apprentices. Companies work to place people with the most suitable skills in the jobs where they can be best used, but flexibility and ability to adapt are often reflected in the speed at which promotion opportunities occur.

If you are interested in a career in the agri-industry, come along to the Irish Farmers Journal and open eir Agri Careers Fair, which takes place in the RDS on 3 March 2016. For more information, click here.