SPOKANE — There are currently more jobs than job-seekers, according to the recruiting and training coordinator for a large Northwest ag retailer.

“Every company out there is hurting for employees, in ag and every other industry,” Leslie Druffel, outreach coordinator for the McGregor Co., told the Capital Press. “I don’t think there’s any industry that’s completely booked on how many employees they need.”

In a presentation to about 500 FFA students during the Spokane Ag Show, Druffel and research agronomist Rainey McKiernan advised: 

• Do work you love to do.

• Bring passion and enthusiasm.

• Keep learning.

• Celebrate and listen. 

The McGregor Co. has more than 30 retail locations throughout Washington, Idaho and Oregon, with roughly 300 employees.

“We could probably use 20 more employees in various roles right now,” Druffel said.

Agriculture is looking for another generation of “remarkable people” to pick up the torch and become leaders in the coming years, they said.

That includes farm service businesses, colleges and universities and at high schools, where a “core competency in agriculture and science is vital.”

It also includes “ag-adjacent” careers, such as bookkeepers, accountants, lawyers, policy makers, communications and marketing and information technology.

Druffel pointed to the technology needs on a farm, as well as what an ag retailer company like the McGregor Co. needs to function.

“We’ve got three dozen branches, we have to have them all connected and working on a single system,” she said. “These are in rural areas, where not all have great internet access, so we have challenges in that sense.”

Druffel said she sees a lot of pressure on students, who seemingly have to decide what they’ll do for the rest of their life.

“It’s hard as a young person to really determine exactly what you want to do, and pinpoint that,” she said. “Some, it’s easy, a lot of them, it’s not. It’s OK to not know right away — there’s ways you can move forward.”

Parents and teachers have kids’ best interests at heart, Druffel said.

“It’s easy for us to see the potential of a student … but sometimes we adults need to step back and say, ‘It’s OK if you don’t know yet,’ but let’s help you figure out what things you’re really interested in doing,” she said.

FFA students have a leg up in the job hunt, particularly in agriculture, Druffel said. 

“That’s bankable knowledge, because there are fewer and fewer people that have any inkling of what happens in agriculture,” she said.