培養社會中堅

然而，重要的是要意識到，與其他行業相比，製造這些飲料的工人是技能最低的。這種情況必須改變。隨著食品行業的生產變得更加自動化和技術驅動，行業必須對其工人進行投資。業內更明智的人開始意識到這一點。一些公司在內部投資提高員工技能。有遠見的人正在為英國國家食品和飲料技能改進委員會(national food and drink skills improvement council)等國家項目做出貢獻。然而，投資於工人需要資金和長遠的眼光，因為回報不是立竿見影的。對於小公司來說，做出這樣的承諾尤其困難，因為這樣做的後果是更高的費用、更高的工資，而且技能有所提高的員工很可能會跑到更大的競爭對手那裏去。再加上零售商和消費者要求盡可能壓低價格和成本的壓力，目前的情況是可以理解的。但它已經站不住腳了。 Take for example the situation in the UK, which has been one of the more aggressive countries in addressing the skills shortage. According to a study last year, the country's food and drink industry has one of the most poorly qualified workforces in the UK. About 19 per cent of the sector's workforce has no qualifications, compared to the average of 11 per cent for the total UK workforce. One-third of staff in the processing sector has no qualifications at all. Also lacking were the large number of food technologists and scientists who are needed to drive innovation in the sector. It is no surprise that along with the lack of worker investment, the EU food and drink industry is also behind the rest of the world in research and development expenditure. Again, the real culprit is the cost pressure syndrome, which must be tackled. No money in, means no money for the long-term investment to keep the industry sustainable and competitive. Industry realises the problem. Just this month Jean Martin, the president of the EU's Confederation of Food and Drink Industries (CIAA), called for more investment in "human capital", the workers, by providing adequate training and through promoting the development of food science related degrees. He was speaking about the needs of industry over the next 25 years. A lack of investment in R&D and in workers goes hand-in-hand he suggested. With all that said, now is the time to take action. Automation, robots and intelligent software will replace much of the grunt work in the factory, making those who know how to fix, operate and adjust the equipment a more valuable resource. Without an action plan to meet those changes the food industry risks neglecting its most basic of inputs. It is a difficult, but not insurmountable task. So tomorrow, give a thought to your workers, and raise a glass to the demands of the future. Note: Most countries celebrate Labour Day on May 1, known as May Day. The US and Canada celebrates the day on the first Monday in September.Ahmed ElAmin是FoodProductionDaily.com的編輯。他是一名商業記者，專門報道發展問題、食品、葡萄酒、技術、國際商業和離岸金融。對本文發表評論，請發電子郵件至ahmed.elamin@decisionnews.com。