A Profile of Wine Jobs By the Numbers

Wines and vinesThe Wine Industry is hiring. If you don't believe me, look at Wines & Vines Magazine's Winery Job Index. (It should be called the "Wine Industry Job Index" as far more than just wineries are covered by the job listing metrics they use to measure if hiring is up or down or steady.

Looking at the latest edition of their index we see that for the months January to April, job listings for wine country jobs are up over the same month in 2011:

Winejobs

 

 

 

January 2012:  +53%

February 2012  +43%

March 2012      +18%

April 2012         +14%

May 2012         +49%

This all gets categorized under "Good News". The "good news about the May 2012 numbers can be found here.

Wine Business Communications' WineJobs.com is the primary source of wine industry job listings and the source of Wines & Vines' data for their Job Index (they are owned by the same company). If you look back over the past month of job postings at WineJobs.com, exclude weekends when few job listings are posted, you find on average 23 new job postings per day. That's pretty darned healthy.

Currently, there are 624 wine jobs listed at WineJobs.com. Here are some interesting facts about those listings:

-Job Located in CA:  400 (64%)
-Job Located in NY: 43 (7%)
-Job Located in OR: 19 (3%)
-Job Located in WA: 23 (4%)
-Job Categorized as "Winemaking or Production": 150 (24%)
-Job Categorized as "Vineyards": 16 (3%)
-Job Categorized as "Sales & Marketing": 234 (37%)
-Job Categorized as "Finance": 28 (4%)
-Job Categorized as "Direct to Consumer/Retail": 146 (23%)
-Job Categorized as General Administration/Other: 59 (9%)
-"Social Media" included in job description: 20 (3%)
-"Internet" included in job description: 45 (7%)
-"Public Relations" included in job description: 19 (3%)
-"Harvest" included in job description: 124 (21%)
-"Wine Club" included in job description: 72 (16%)
-"Sales" included in job description: 385 (62%)
-Job listings that include a "$" sign: 29 (5%)

Clearly, if you are looking for some sort of a sales position and want to work in CA, then this is the jobs listings board to look at.

A continually increasing number of job listings is very good sign for the wine industry. It's a good sign for any industry. My belief is that the next 9 months will give us a very clear picture of where the American economy is going. Everyone watches "job numbers" and politicians rise or fall based on this number. What I don't think we can do is gauge the health of the American economy or the future of the American economy based on an index of job listings at wineries and vineyards. Wine is not milk. It's a luxury product and might work as an indicator for a certain part of the economy. That said, now is not the worst time to be looking for a job in the wine industry….if you have sales skills.

Posted In: Wine Business

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8 Responses

  1. Tracy Cervellone CWE - June 12, 2012

    I like the positive tone here. Operating phrase here for a job search is Sales Skills. Even better, a verifiable positive sales track record. A more difficult concept to master than one would assume.

  2. Amy Gardner - June 13, 2012

    Tom,
    Of course I like to see positive jobs data in the wine industry. I have been surprised that sales positions have continued to be the most prevalent this year. In 2008 that was the biggest area of hiring–against a very bleak employment landscape. I have seen additional roles; finance, management and DTC/hospitality roles, but very few winemaking and viticulture roles this year. Seems like what I’m seeing is in line with what’s on winejobs. While the wine industry may not be exactly matched to the larger economy, I think things track pretty close industry to industry. With the large corporations having a larger role in the wine industry, it seems the employment figures can be fairly representative of the overall economy.

  3. ak - June 13, 2012

    while it is true that the # of wine jobs is increasing, this post is misleading. You counted harvest jobs among the winemaking and production which are seasonal and therefore should not be counted as job growth. Of the 150 jobs you mentioned under this category, I would venture to guess that > 75% qualify as harvest or seasonal.

  4. Amy Gardner - June 14, 2012

    ak, I think they are comparing job listings from 2011 to those in 2012, so harvest roles would still be a factor in either year.

  5. Petar - June 16, 2012

    This is a good news for everybody in the wine industry!
    Cheers

  6. winevet - June 19, 2012

    There is a significant increase of job posting, this is correct.
    Is it the result of a growth/expansion in the wine business? I am not so sure.
    I have seen a significant decrease in spontaneous job applications. Personally, prior 2009, I would receive up to 10 emails/week from people seeking a job in my company. Now, I am around 1/month. The “giving up” feeling is present and this is very sad.
    With so little applications, I will have no choice putting an ad in order to seek qualified additional work force in busy season.
    Also, I am wondering how many businesses had laid off and hire again but at a much lower wage.

  7. Chris Campbell - June 20, 2012

    I am also seeing an increase in self service job posting at http://www.winejob.com , attributing it to a little more economic confidence. But perhaps most of our increased activity is due to employers willingness to seek candidates through more online venues and social media rather than old school methods. Speed and targeting vs. killing trees…

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