WITH another larger than average harvest on the horizon, the CBH Group is still on the hunt for more casual staff to operate its receival sites and bring the crop in.
Generally, the co-operative needs about 2000 casual staff for the harvest period, however that number varies from season to season based on crop size, the weather and the impact that has in terms of harvest bans and wet days.
So far, there have been just over 3000 applications received and most locations around the State have the projected numbers needed.
However, some areas have been more challenging to fill and CBH is looking for more candidates to fill roles, throughout the Kwinana North zone, as well as in Esperance at the terminal.
Chief people officer Kelly McKenzie said areas such as Koorda, Cadoux, Dowerin, Southern Cross and Merredin were always more difficult to fill due to the tyranny of distance.
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"It's generally an area in which we do have lower numbers compared to the rest of the State," Ms McKenzie said.
"There are smaller local populations there so we don't have that to draw on, plus it's a little bit further away from Perth so people who are travelling from the metro area generally want somewhere a bit closer."
Every year, CBH attempts to have more people sign up than what is needed as there are always those who pull out, either because they find another opportunity elsewhere or they're not available to start at the time required.
The biggest challenge every year is lining up people's start dates with when harvest begins, something which is particularly difficult with university students and their exam schedules.
"There are a lot of people who go through the training and pre-employment medical checks and are really eager to start, but until we get the first delivery in and have a clearer picture of what the weather is like, it's really hard for us to give them a firm start date," Ms McKenzie said.
"However, we try to overcome that by bringing them out a bit early to do some training onsite with the more experienced staff."
While there are always a few who drop out, CBH also has about a 50 per cent return rate.
There is a core group of people who come back every year, mainly those from farming communities who like the opportunity to go back and connect with family and friends.
A lot of university students also work on their break throughout the course of their degrees, with the rate of pay attractive for them to be able to earn a good income in a short amount of time.
There are also some people who simply love developing a connection to farming and enjoy being a part of that community, even if it is only for a month or two.
"We really encourage our returning casuals to keep coming back because they bring with them a lot of experience," Ms McKenzie said.
"It's also important we get new people through so we can train them up and hopefully they come back too."
For those who do head to a CBH receival site, they can expect the quality of their accommodation to improve with the co-operative on a mission to increase the amount of accommodation available, as well as the overall quality.
CBH has upgraded the accommodation at 15 sites over the past five years, with Cadoux and Gairdner River getting major upgrades this season.
Chief operations officer Mick Daw said they wanted to look after their people and make sure there is a high standard of living available for them.
"Traditionally we've had a lot of locals we've accessed for harvest and they haven't needed accommodation," Mr Daw said.
"But we're finding more and more now that we do need to provide that for the casuals during harvest, so we need more availability and we need to increase the standards."
Accommodation is one of the perks of working as a harvest casual and is included as part of the job.
