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Addressing the Severe Worker Shortage in the Landscape Industry

By: Jennifer Myers, Senior Director, Workforce Development at National Association of Landscape Professionals

The professional landscape industry has faced a severe worker shortage for many years; while 2021 has brought on the worst labor market in recent history, we are no stranger to the very real struggle to find qualified employees. 

Each year, landscape and lawn care companies hire 300,000 people for careers that positively impact families, their communities, and the environment. The industry employs more than 1 million people and represents 604,163 landscaping service businesses, an increase of 4.9 percent from 2020. This $105 Billion industry creates jobs to generate local economic growth while supporting other life sustaining businesses by maintaining public landscapes, such as hospitals, government facilities, housing areas, parks, schools, and more. Because of this important work, the Department of Homeland Security in its “Memorandum On Identification of Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers During COVID-19 Response,” includes landscape services as part of the list of essentials services needed to support Public Works and Infrastructure Support Services.

While our industry is typically slow with any big picture evolution, our daily lives are comprised of regular adaptations. The best planned week and mowing route is pushed forward due to rain. The design installation project is adjusted on the fly because of missing plant or hardscape materials. The prior subcontractors are delayed, impacting the landscape job calendar for weeks, or even months (landscaping is typically the final step on any multi-trade build). 

Like many industries, quick and necessary changes to company policy and procedures were made in 2020 due to COVID-19. While professional landscape, lawn care, and tree care companies have always taken employee and client safety very seriously, employing regular safety training and enforcing strong safety standards on the job, additional safety measures were put in place in response to COVID-19, including direct reporting to job sites, flexible work times, remote work for office employees, and more.  

Now, as we approach the halfway point of 2021, we see our industry continuing to embrace innovation and large-scale adaptation, instead of sinking back to our pre-covid ways.  

We are embracing technology more than ever, with no fear of worker displacement. Autonomous mowers keep the turf maintained, freeing up workers to focus on more skilled tasks, such as pruning and plant diagnostics. Drones, online estimating tools, specialized business management software, and crew tracking apps provide increased productivity and accuracy. 

We have released new training programs, such as the Landscape Management Certificate Program. Prior to this year, NALP only recognized and awarded landscape technicians who already had a comprehensive knowledge and skill in a particular specialty area. Now with the Landscape Management Certificate Program, we have the means to expand our audience to the amateur, the inexperienced and the non-professional, and to train them in the essential skills of the industry. The online platform has been well-received by landscape contractors, community colleges with adult education programs, non-profit groups, and federal prisons. An added bonus— these courses prepare people to advance their career by becoming certified via the Landscape Industry Certified Exterior Technician exam and credential. These online certificate courses also satisfy the educational requirements for apprentices who are part of the Landscape Management Apprenticeship Program™ (LMAP). 

The Landscape Management Apprenticeship Program™, launched in February 2019, focuses on the skills needed by a landscape technician in maintenance, installation, and irrigation. The program requires 2,000 hours of on-the-job training as well as a minimum of 144 hours in the classroom or online equivalent. The 2,000 hours of on-the-job instruction are divided into 17 job tasks with required hours for each. NALP has also partnered with several non-profit groups with existing landscape programs to develop pre-apprenticeship programs that will feed into the LMAP. 

In 2020, we also launched our diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, including the creation of a Diversity and Inclusion Council. As CEO Britt Wood explained, "The leadership and staff of the National Association of Landscape Professionals are fully committed to empowering racial, gender, and social equality within the landscape industry. By increasing representation by people of color, women, the LGBTQ and Hispanic communities, and other underrepresented groups in leadership roles in NALP we will foster a culture that celebrates diversity. We are committed to making progress. We are working to provide needed education and resources for employers to create more inclusive workplaces with pathways for advancement; to share stories that celebrate the diversity of our industry; and to bring new voices to our Committees, Councils, and Board of Directors." The association also has three professional networks, the Latino Landscape Network, the Women in Landscape Network, and the Young Professionals Network. All are open to both members and non-members. While members of these networks are primarily made of their respective groups of people, all are welcome to join, as the primarily focus is ensuring the groups have a voice and that all in the industry should be listening and learning. 

We continue our extensive outreach to those who have not yet found the industry, including middle and high schoolers, career changers, and the public. Our goal is to educate and help them understand that our industry is a professional industry, made up of educated, dedicated, and hard-working individuals. Some educators do not even consider landscaping a legitimate career. We’re fighting that perception. 

We must also be vocal about how great the job is and how much we enjoy the connections we make. We liken it to advocating not just for the industry (and our ability to work) but for how amazing our jobs are and how rich and rewarding our roles can be. We tell those stories on the industry LandscapeIndustryCareers.org website and the WhyILandscape social media platforms. Our goal is to help students, teachers, and parents understand that landscaping and lawn care is a good way to make a living, has upward mobility, and can be a really satisfying career. We are firm believers that if people can find their way to the industry and learn about it, they will stay.

About the National Association of Landscape Professionals
The National Association of Landscape Professionals represents a profession that employs one million landscape and lawn care professionals across the country who maintain and protect our living infrastructure, preserve public health, maintain outdoor green spaces, and support our economy by creating local jobs. We are committed to helping our members achieve success through education and training and increasing professionalism through certification and accreditation.

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