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Workforce dataset (size and demographics) 
Source: Stats NZ Integrated Data Infrastructure
6,074 individuals worked in Arable industries across 2021, with a high proportion of the workforce being either self-employed or working as an employer.
The Arable industries workforce has a high proportion of people working either in self-employment or as an employer compared to other Muka Tangata industries, although there are significant differences across the industries. Most workers in Cereal Grain Wholesaling are employees, whereas in Other Crop Growing over half the workforce were working as either employers or self-employed, up until 2020. This has shifted in 2021, with more employees than employers and self-employed.
Around two thirds of the workforce in the Arable industries are working in Other Crop Growing and around one quarter are working in Other Grain Growing. Overall, the number of workers who are either self-employed or work as employers in the Arable industries has fallen since 2017, however, the number of employees has remained relatively stable.
Overall, the number of employees working in the Arable industries have remained relatively stable. There are seasonal differences in the number of employees, with counts of employees being highest from December to March and lowest from June to September.
The Arable workforce is not as ethnically diverse as other workforces across Muka Tangata and has a higher percentage of older workers. The workforce is concentrated in the Canterbury and Waikato regions.