Food Manufacturing: Using Employee Recognition to Retain and Attract Talent

In a sector where recruiting is becoming increasingly difficult, retaining your current employees has become your most powerful lever for operational stability. Recognition is one of the most accessible, and most underused, tools to get there.

The situation is critical, and it’s hitting your plants directly

According to Karine Mercier, Executive Director of the Institut de technologie agroalimentaire du Québec, there is a shortage of 100,000 employees in Canada’s food processing sector.

And the pool of qualified talent is shrinking every year.

According to the Comité sectoriel de main-d’oeuvre en transformation alimentaire, enrolment in sector-related programs has dropped 40 to 50% since the pandemic. One program at Cégep de Maisonneuve was suspended outright due to lack of applicants. At Université Laval, the number of students admitted to the Food Science and Technology bachelor’s program dropped from 121 in 2020 to 51 in 2025.

In this context, losing an experienced employee is no longer just an HR headache. It’s a real operational risk.

What it really costs to lose an employee

Replacing an employee in manufacturing goes far beyond the cost of a job posting. According to data compiled by Altrum, replacing a production employee can cost between 40% and 70% of their annual salary. For a mid-level manager, that figure climbs to between 125% and 150%.

These numbers include recruitment time, productivity loss during the transition period, training costs, and the impact on the morale of remaining team members,  a factor often underestimated in plants where team cohesion is directly tied to production output.

“When we lose an experienced operator today, we don’t replace them in two weeks. And that gap is felt on the floor long before the new person is up to speed.” — Annie Breton, Recognition Expert, Altrum

Recognition: a real retention lever

Here’s a telling statistic: 79% of employees say they would leave their job if they didn’t feel appreciated. This reveals something important; an employee’s departure isn’t always about salary or working conditions. It’s often about belonging and feeling valued.

Recognition acts as a retention lever at three levels. It:

• Reinforces the employee’s sense of belonging to the organization
• Signals that their contribution is seen and valued
• Creates a work environment where people want to stay, even when other offers exist

And the data backs this up: organizations with a strong recognition culture have a voluntary turnover rate 31% lower than those without one.

What about talent acquisition?

Retaining your current employees is essential, but it’s only part of the picture. According to Food Processing Skills Canada, 24% of the food manufacturing workforce is between 55 and 64 years old and will be eligible for retirement within the next 10 years. The sector will need to recruit and retain 142,000 new workers between 2023 and 2030.

Recruiting will be necessary, in a talent pool that is already shrinking.

This is where recognition plays a second, often underestimated role: employer brand.

An employee who feels recognized talks about their employer. They become a natural ambassador for your organization, to their network, on review platforms like Glassdoor, and in everyday conversations. And this matters more and more to the generation now entering the workforce.

Gen Z doesn’t evaluate employers the same way previous generations did. According to a study cited in our 2026 HR challenges analysis, 77% of Gen Z say they only apply to organizations with authentic, inclusive cultures.

And it’s not just a generational thing. In Canada, 57% of job seekers say online reviews influenced their decision to apply, while 92% consider employer reputation an important factor in their career choices. A recognition program rooted in your organizational values directly strengthens your employer brand beyond the walls of your organization.

“In a market where candidates are actively seeking employers aligned with their values, your reputation as an employer has become a selection criterion in its own right.” — Annie Breton, Recognition Expert, Altrum

Where to start

You don’t need to transform everything at once. Here are four high-impact actions to prioritize:

1. Assess your current situation Look at your recognition program participation rate by site. Gaps between locations often reveal where recognition isn’t making it to the front line.
2. Equip your frontline managers Recognition training doesn’t need to be lengthy to be effective. Short, practical modules spread out over time allow plant managers to integrate recognition into their daily routine without adding to their workload.

‘‘In my opinion, recognition is a key element in employee retention, and [the Altrum training] provides managers with simple but effective ways of practicing it. There are so many things that can cause an employee to leave their job, but if the relationship with their manager and colleagues is good, then the chances of them deciding to stay with the company are better.” – Oriane Tisseyre, Total Rewards Coordinator at Nortera

3. Activate peer-to-peer recognition Colleagues are often the first to witness each other’s efforts, especially on night shifts or weekends. Implementing a peer-to-peer recognition mechanism extends the reach of your program far beyond what managers alone can cover.
4. Build development and career advancement plans Investing in your employees’ and managers’ development is itself a powerful form of recognition. Defining a clear career path with an employee sends a strong message: you believe in their potential and are committed to their future within the organization. In a sector where advancement opportunities are sometimes perceived as limited, offering a concrete trajectory — a new responsibility, a training opportunity, a future promotion — can make the difference between an employee who stays and one who leaves to find elsewhere what you could have offered them.

In summary

The labour shortage in food manufacturing is not a passing trend. It’s a structural reality that is here to stay. In this context, every employee you retain represents a real cost saving and a concrete competitive advantage.

Recognition is not the solution to every staffing challenge. But it is one of the most accessible, fastest-to-activate, and most cost-effective levers available, relative to the impact it can generate.

FAQ

Q1: How does recognition help retain employees in manufacturing? Recognition reduces the desire to leave by making employees feel their contribution is valued. Regularly recognized employees are significantly less likely to leave their jobs, which reduces turnover costs and stabilizes production teams.

Q2: Why is the labour shortage particularly critical in food manufacturing? Enrolment in food manufacturing training programs has dropped 40 to 50% since the pandemic in Quebec. Combined with a shortage of 100,000 workers across Canada, this makes replacing departing employees extremely difficult.

Q3: What is the real cost of employee turnover in manufacturing? Replacing a production employee can cost between 40% and 70% of their annual salary. For a mid-level manager, that cost rises to between 125% and 150%.

Q4: How can recognition help me attract new talent? A recognized employee naturally becomes an ambassador for your organization. In a context where 92% of job seekers consider employer reputation an important criterion, and where 77% of Gen Z only apply to organizations with authentic, inclusive cultures, a values-based recognition program directly strengthens your employer brand and helps attract the next generation of workers.