A Chilean agricultural plant that is facing labor shortages, has resorted to raffling off a new car to attract seasonal workers to the Maule region.

The announcement reads "News: We are raffling off a new car with zero kilometers on it. Would you like to be the owner? Work with us during our night shit and it could be yours!"

The idea came from businessman Danilo Valdés from Servival IRL, who is dedicated to the export of frozen fruit and has only 50 percent of the staff needed.

"The workforce is super complicated, we should have 160 seasonal workers here in Molina and 120 in Linares, but we only have 50 percent of that," Valdés told Cooperativa Regiones.

"People do not want to work and it is not a problem of too little pay or incentives because even with bonuses they do not want to work this year."

Because of potential decreases in future production, Valdés has started the raffle of a zero-kilometer car at each plant as a way to encourage the cooperation of seasonal workers.

"We still don't have the night shift which forces us to commit to less production. We opted to raffle the car in Molina and Linares as motivation, but people are not buying in; we raised salaries by 40 percent and yet people still don't want to work."

Claudina Parra, a worker at the Molina plant said: "It is a good incentive because it creates enthusiasm for the idea to own the car and the salary is good. I have IFE, but this is another income for me because no one knows what will happen in the future."

Ana Paola Ponce, SEREMI of the Workforce, said: "We are aware o the lack of seasonal personnel which is why we are working with the National Employment Exchange and Join Agro as well as the Labor IFE."

Regarding foreign labor as an option, Valdés state that the lack of documentation in many cases is the problem.

Photo: Jaime Morales Amaya