National Careers Week has so far highlighted the seemingly overwhelming skills shortage across the industry, but there are several alternative routes for recruitment that might be worth exploring to help tackle this.

By thinking outside the box, there are more and more opportunities for starting a career in the horticulture industry that might not be a traditional academic route.

Here are five of the alternative routes for recruitment:

1. Rehabilitating offenders

As the industry faces the ongoing struggle with recruitment, the UK prison system has been exploring new partnerships to better aid rehabilitated offenders into re-joining the workforce.

Nationwide green service provider Glendale Services has been working alongside the British prison system over the past year to kickstart a series of training and recruitment opportunities across the company. Read all about it in our February issue of Pro Landscaper: 

2. Ex-forces

UK military training is an on-boarding exercise like no other and produces a talent pool where excellence comes as standard.

Inspirational leaders, strategic thinkers, agile negotiators – ex-forces personnel tend to be resilient and adaptable, with practical skills that transfer into a vast range of industries. They are often in need of the routine that a job presents when returning to civilian life.

3. Unhoused

Research has found that 40% of employers believe hiring unhoused people is illegal, which is not the case.

Hiring unhoused people can unlock potential and provide deserving people with the opportunity to have a second chance. Reducing poverty in the local community, employing unhoused people can be a reasonably straightforward process too.

4. Apprentices

An apprenticeship is a paid job where the employee learns and gains valuable experiences, combining on-site training with classroom-based learning. As an employer, you also may have access to government funding for this.

Hiring an apprentice helps to ensure your staff develop the relevant skills necessary to your organisation and is an effective way to grow talent in the workforce. Available at different levels and age groups, an apprenticeship allows those from all walks of life the opportunity to progress.

5. Work experience

Work experience is an important way for young people to gain insight into the working world, spending time with employers and establishing invaluable knowledge of industries.

It can help inform and shape their career decisions and offer a way to explore the workplace in a risk-free environment whilst also providing opportunities for existing staff to supervise and mentor young people, helping to develop their management and other professional and personal skills.

Highlighting good recruitment and selection practices, work experience is a great way to entice people into the industry and allows you to show them what to expect from it.