Seasonal workers just a click away

New Zealand-developed app Picmi is helping growers find workers the old-fashioned way - not through automation, but via the internet.

Developed by the daughter of a grower in the Tasman area, Picmi is essentially a platform that growers can send to potential job candidates with template job descriptions and contracts. It purports to save growers hours of administrative time, and has a far higher acceptance rate than traditional hiring methods.

This software-as-a-service approach to farm labour is not new - anyone wanting to be an Uber driver can sign up through the app. But for growers, it’s a refreshing approach to the increasing headache of finding enough hands every year.

As the industry inevitably turns to increased automation alongside human seasonal labour, how will this gig economy style of labour market keep up, simply shrink, or will growers upskill workers alongside automation investment?