The greatest workforce challenge – Turning passions into professions

COMMENT: The thoroughbred industry has a stamina problem, but this one has nothing to do with changing preferences for bloodlines or the need to revamp the core racing product.  

The industry’s challenge is retaining talented people. Racing, breeding and wagering continue to attract passionate young professionals, but too many struggle to see a long-term future within those industries.

Many people enter the thoroughbred racing game driven by a passion for the horse. That sustains their careers to a point, but the long and unusual hours and a lack of financial reward or career progression sees aspiring professionals become jaded and seek opportunities elsewhere.

On a recent trip to the Hunter Valley, I had a conversation with an older gentleman named Kev. As a young bloke in the 1970s, Kev had found a way to turn his passion and knowledge of horses, honed in outback Queensland, into a fledgling career at a stud in a remote part of NSW.

The conditions were spartan and the pay wasn’t great. Kev was paid $30 a week for his troubles, plus “milk and meat”. He worked hard, set about learning his craft and on the very odd day off, hit the town.

It was a couple of years of hard toil before Kev got a call which would change his life. His brother was calling from northern Queensland, saying he could get him a job as a wool classer for 10 times the pay. Kev said he had a moment of hesitation before he took off.

From there he never looked back, and, perhaps with a slight hint of regret, he never worked with thoroughbreds in that way again. While the connection remains and Kev now breeds a few horses with his partner, his drive, knowledge and passion left the industry the day he hit the road to head north.  

Yet racing lost someone with practical knowledge, genuine passion and the willingness to build a career in the industry.

Fifty years later, versions of Kev’s story still play out across Australia. While the details may differ, the industry continues to lose capable people to careers that offer clearer opportunities for advancement.

The industry’s leadership recognises the problem. Workforce sustainability has become one of the defining challenges facing thoroughbred breeding, racing and wagering.

AgriFutures Australia and Thoroughbred Breeders Australia (TBA) commissioned the Workforce Strategy project this year in response to growing concerns about the long-term sustainability of the Australian thoroughbred breeding workforce.

The project seeks to identify several key workforce pressures, including persistent labour shortages, difficulty attracting new entrants, limited career and training pathways, low visibility of the industry as a career option, and a reliance on temporary and international workers.

To address these challenges, the project aims to develop an evidence-based workforce strategy that strengthens career pathways, improves industry visibility, identifies skills gaps, and enhances workforce attraction and retention.

According to AgriFutures, the project is due to be completed this month.

Industry participants will watch the findings closely and they should also hold relevance beyond the farms and stables, and into the rest of the racing and wagering industries.

Those who enter these associated industries with passion often find that enthusiasm burns out quickly in a dynamic and often political environment. Within a few years, they exit, dismayed and unable to see how their skills can translate into meaningful career progression within the industry.

This challenge also exists against the backdrop of a major generational shift in attitudes towards careers.

Modern careers rarely follow a single, linear path. Most workers now expect to move between roles, organisations and even industries throughout their working lives.

That reality means racing cannot rely on passion alone. Recruitment matters, but retention matters just as much. People stay when they can see opportunities to develop, progress and broaden their skills.

All three interlinked industries still lack a clearly defined pathway for people who want to become well-rounded thoroughbred professionals. Unlike many sectors, racing has no widely recognised educational framework that connects breeding, racing, bloodstock, wagering and administration into a coherent professional development pathway.

As a result, many talented people acquire knowledge in silos. They learn one discipline well but struggle to see how that experience could translate into broader leadership opportunities across the industry.

A clearer pathway could include structured graduate programs, cross-sector secondments between breeding, racing and wagering, formal accreditation and leadership development opportunities.

None of these initiatives would guarantee retention, but they would give ambitious professionals a clearer picture of where a career in the thoroughbred industry can lead.

Previous initiatives in this area, such as Thoroughbred Industry Careers, have fallen by the wayside, unable to get the full industry support required for execution.

But beyond that, what encouragement do young professionals receive from industry leaders that they can develop a broad and valuable range of skills that will benefit both themselves and the industry over the long term?

There is no shortage of cautionary tales for those who started on a pathway in racing, and ended up making a career leap, because they couldn’t see a way forward.

That is complicated by the constant challenge of executive change. They follow a path, only to see the strategy change from year to year.

Building a long-term career in these industries requires considerable resilience. Understanding why some people stay, despite the challenges, may be just as important as understanding why others leave.

Racing’s future will always depend on attracting people who love the horse. The greater challenge is giving those people a reason to stay.

Clear career pathways, meaningful professional development and a shared vision of what a thoroughbred racing career can become will not solve every workforce problem. But they will help transform passion into expertise and expertise into leadership.

And leadership, more than anything else, will determine the industry’s future prosperity.