Employment in Irish dairy production: a narrative analysis of employers and employees’ experiences in an expanding industry

Figures & data

Table 1. Characteristics of interview participants.

Participant	Pseudonym	Gender	Herd size	Education level	Age	Experience as employee in other sectors	Family working on farm	Employment status of person interviewed	Categorisation of people working on each farm
									Employer	*Employees	Total
Employers
Employer 1	ER1	Male	370	Level 8	42	Yes	No	Full time	1 (FT)	2 (1PT, 1FT)	3
Employer 2	ER2	Male	140	Level 8	41	Yes	Yes	Full time	1 (FT)	2 (2PT)	3
Employer 3	ER3	Male	80	Level 6	80	Yes	No	Full time	1 (FT)	1 (1PT)	2
Employer 4	ER4	Male	600	Level 6	63	No	Yes	Full time	1 (FT)	5 (3PT, 2FT)	6
Employer 5	ER5	Male	530	Level 8	28	Yes	No	Full time	1 (FT)	4 (3PT, 1FT)	5
Employer 6	ER6	Male	100	Level 6	61	No	Yes	Full time	1 (FT)	1 (1PT)	2
Employees
Employee 1	EE1	Male	360	Level 6	30	Yes	Yes	Full time	1 (FT)	3 (4FT)	4
Employee 2	EE2	Female	200	Level 8	25	No	No	Part time	1 (FT)	2 (2PT)	3
**Employee 3	EE9	Female	340	Level 6	32	Yes	Yes	Full time	1 (FT)	3 (2PT, 1FT)	4
**Employee 4	EE4	Male	240	Level 5	28	Yes	No	Full time	1 (FT)	2 (1PT, 1FT)	3
Employee 5	EE5	Male	400	Level 6	28	Yes	No	Part time	1 (FT)	4 (2PT, 2FT)	5
Employee 6	EE6	Male	300	Level 3	52	Yes	No	Full time	1 (FT)	3 (1PT, 2FT)	4
Employee 7	EE7	Male	98	Level 6	59	Yes	No	Part time	1 (FT)	1 (1PT)	2

* PT = part-time employee, FT = full-time employee.

** Both employees were not Irish citizens.

Table 2. Highlights of themes identified which impacted on employment relationships.

Foundations of good employment relations

I. Previous experiences in workplaces

II. Personal growth and self-awareness

Competencies of good employment relations

I. Ability to communicate and delegate

II. Creating a conducive work environment

Relational outcomes

I. Trust and fairness

II. Positive and respectful attitudes perceived

III. Expectations articulated and met

Figure 1. Conceptual model of the factors influencing employment relations on Irish dairy farms.

Attitudinal scores of farmers for interview.

Question	Employer 1	Employer 2	Employer 3	Employer 4	Employer 5	Employer 6
I’m confident I know how to manage the workers on my farm	*2	1	−1	1	1	−1
There are real benefits for the business in developing my people skills	2	2	2	2	1	1
There are real benefits for the business in developing the skills of my staff	2	2	2	2	1	1
Without guidance I expect employees to know what to do when completing a task	−2	1	2	1	1	−1
I value staff by investing in them	2	2	1	1	1	−1
I find it easy to recruit suitable employees	2	0	−1	0	−2	−1
I find it difficult to retain employees	2	2	1	0	−1	−1
Poor communication is a major cause of conflict on my farm	2	−1	1	−1	−2	−1
Attitudinal score	12	9	7	6	0	−4

*2 = Strongly agree.

1 = Agree.

0 = Nether agree nor disagree.

–1 = Disagree.

–2 = Strongly disagree.

Data availability statement

The participants of this study did not give written consent for their data to be shared publicly, so due to the sensitive nature of the research supporting data is not available.