North Carolina State University has a new initiative aimed at helping Spanish-speaking foreign workers in agricultural entry-level jobs advance to supervisory roles. This $500,000 project was funded through . According to the university, Spanish-speaking foreign workers make up about 85% of the state's pig barns and pork processing plants. But, they often lack the managerial skills to coach and train other workers.
N.C. State associate professor Eduardo Beltranena, the lead of the project, said the program will be a one-day workshop for the workers.
"They will deal with things like emotional intelligence or how they can understand the needs of workers below them," he said.
Beltranena said they will also learn about communication skills and scheduling. The workshop will be taught to workers in Spanish by interns from N.C. State's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Many of the Spanish-speaking foreign workers expected to attend the workshop will be from Sampson, Duplin, and Wayne counties.
Meanwhile, Beltrenena said it's difficult to predict how federal policies may affect the hiring of foreign workers. But, he remains hopeful that the workshop will help.
"So, we think that retaining employees by empowering them will be key to success," Beltrenena said.
While they're still developing the course, the one-day workshop is expected to happen later this year in September and will include a follow-up session. Beltrenena said he hopes to expand it to other states in the future.
