UK Government Grants Temporary Work Visas to Horticulture Sector Amid Labour Shortage

In June 2022, the UK government released an extra 10,000 seasonal worker visas (for a total of 40,000 visas for 2022) with 8,000 of these going towards horticulture. Worker visas are granted for harvesting, picking of fruits, vegetables, and flowers on British farms. However, producers have voiced their concerns and frustrations that since Brexit migratory restrictions, there are not enough qualified workers willing to work in the fields, hence the need to outsource the work to personnel from other countries. The lack of labour is leading to significant losses for producers. As much as USD 68.56 million (£60m) of food has been wasted on farms because of a labour shortage, according to the National Farmers’ Union, which found at least USD 25.14 million (£22m) of fruit and vegetables had been wasted so far this year. The NFU said 40% of respondents to a survey of its members said they had suffered crop losses as a result of labour shortages, with farms 14% short of the size of the workforce they needed on average.