Donnie King, COO of Tyson Foods, and a broiler industry veteran, commented on labor shortages during the Tyson Foods conference call following release of Q1 results*. Non-availability of labor and absenteeism come at a difficult time for the industry as demand is increasing from both retail and food service segments of the market. The problem is common to all producers with Tyson Foods, Pilgrim’s Pride and Sanderson Farms all noting problems in obtaining adequate workers.
Dean Banks, CEO of Tyson Foods stated, “We simply have been unable to get people consistently back to work”. The Company has provided COVID vaccination, health centers, has raised wages and provided attendance bonuses. Tyson Foods is also evaluating mechanization and automation as long-term strategies.
The concentration of the broiler industry in the southeast resulted in disruption of production during mid-to-late February following a period of severely cold weather. Fortunately the effects on both chick placement and grow-out worked through the chain of production by early May. It is understood that to fulfill contracts, Tyson Foods is purchasing raw product from other producers to be converted into further-processed items for the QSR segment of the market.
(*See Report on TSN Q1 financials posted in the May 12th Edition, retrievable by entering “Tyson” in the SEARCH block)