Meat industry leaders met with members government Discuss how enterprise Can cooperate with prisons to fill vacancies.
The Independent Meat Suppliers Association told the BBC that there are approximately 14,000 vacancies in the UK meat industry.
According to the British Meat Processors Association, this accounts for approximately 15% of the workforce in the industry.
The Independent Meat Suppliers Association stated that the industry is facing an imminent “hiring crisis” due to Brexit and Covid.
Prisoners participating in the Release of Temporary License (ROTL) program will be the main candidates for employment.
The program works with inmates in open prisons to help them gain work experience to make the transition to the community easier after serving their sentences.
Tony Goodger of the Independent Meat Suppliers Association said it will work with the Ministry of Justice and its members to fill the vacancies.
Mr. Goodger said that he knows that some member organizations have already worked with ROTL prisoners, and the feedback is that employees are usually “working hard and willing to learn”.
“It depends on the members they hire,” he said. “them [prisons] There are criminals and prisoners, and we have members who need to work. It seems wise to combine the two. “
Turkish processing giant Bernard Matthews is one of the most high-profile employers of prisoners and has established contacts with HMP Norwich.
Its staff regularly visit prisons for recruitment and often sign contracts with prisoners after they are released.
The Covid pandemic has caused many meat workers on vacation to find new jobs elsewhere.
Since the Brexit referendum, EU nationals have been returning to their home countries in large numbers.
The industry body is “doing everything possible” to recruit workers.
