Bayer survey finds lack of qualified employees is industry’s biggest challenge

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Nearly every lawn care company is struggling with a lack of qualified staff in the field, according to a recent survey conducted by Environmental Science, a business unit of Bayer Crop Science.

For example, the survey found that four in 10 respondents say a “shallow bench” or not enough team members is the biggest challenge. Forty-two percent of respondents ranked an “unhappy fan base” as having the least impact on their business’ success.

“The lawn and landscape industry is built on leaders who understand what it takes to satisfy customers and to rally teams that can deliver on that,” said Rob Golembiewski, Ph.D., Green Solutions Team specialist for Bayer. “It’s a classic story of finding the right talent to get the job done—to push through the last yard, to win the next new account or to beat the elements and keep your fans happy.”

Survey respondents also reported that they are typically taking on curative or reactive activities about 37 percent of the time but that they would prefer it to be even less (closer to 27 percent).

“It’s easy to understand why this preference for a strong offense is top of mind,” Golembiewski said. “With the right product portfolio and the right strategy at the right time, there’s a lot lawn and landscape companies can do to reduce repeat applications, callbacks and other activities that increase costs in the long run.”

To get the full stats from the survey and to learn more about building a winning playbook, visit the Environmental Science website. 

The Bayer Lawn & Landscape Survey was distributed to 4,437 green industry representatives who have opted in to receive email communications from Bayer. Of 537 total survey respondents, 220 were qualified and analyzed in these findings, according to the company.