Doing something you love every day, earning enough to build up piles of disposable income, playing your part in changing the world for the better.
You’re lucky if your day job gives you two of these, let alone three – so, if you excel in a discipline that is in-demand across a variety of sectors (such as many tech, engineering, or scientific specialties), where would a career in AgriTech leave you?
AgriTech is a sector where you can see your work making a tangible positive impact across the world – you could be a Software Engineer using technology to improve food supply chain effectiveness, or a Scientist helping to create disease resistant seeds & crops. It’s a big tick in the ‘making a difference’ box, but does this inevitably mean taking a hit on your earnings?
The answer is ‘No’. Vast amounts of money are being pumped into the global AgriTech sector, with start-ups and leading companies in this world being as cutting edge, professional and well-funded as organisations across any other growth sector. Some of the AgTech offices I’ve seen are amongst the most high-tech and impressive I’ve witnessed across my recruitment career – with no need for a pair of wellies and not a cow or tractor in sight.
These companies need talented individuals with expertise in specialist disciplines as much (perhaps even more) as those in any other sector you can think of – and salaries on offer are generally commensurate with this.
This isn’t to say that AgriTech will ever be the highest paying sector out there and will compete with the tech powerhouses (your Googles, Amazons and Facebooks) and big financial institutions of this world – but the same is true for the vast majority or other sectors. Nor is it to say that there are not companies in the AgriTech space paying below market rates, but in the same breath there will be those paying above… again, the same as any other sector.
A possible downside to a career in AgTech is purely the lack of volume of opportunities compared to other more mature sectors – but expect this to change in the coming years.
It’s time AgriTech started to be seen as a credible technology sector in it’s own right, with a career offering technologists, engineers, scientists and the like an opportunity to change the world for the better. If you’re drawn to the AgriTech sector by the possibility to ‘make a difference’ then this is to be applauded, and anybody coming into this sector should be motivated by this… but there’s no reason not to expect to earn a decent crust and then some along the way!
