Practical Strategies for Addressing the Worker Shortages: Insights from Sri Lankan Tea Plantations

The livelihoods of rural communities in tea-producing developing economies in South Asia are heavily dependent on the tea industry. Worker shortages and rising costs in tea-producing countries affect tea consumers globally. This study aims to investigate the most effective strategies that tea plantations could implement to address the worker shortage. In this cross-sectional study, a survey methodology was applied. Proportionate stratified sampling procedures were used to randomly select 135 tea plantation managers from tea-producing regions of Sri Lanka. To test the hypotheses and analyse the data, partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was utilized. The findings show that the availability of alternative employment opportunities is the most influential key factor in the scarcity of workers. The occurrence of workforce shortages is significantly influenced by commitments related to debt, insufficient monthly wages, and a lack of job recognition. The results show that revenue-sharing and mechanization are the most effective options to address worker shortages. Under the revenue-sharing concept, plantation workers have greater options to earn additional income. Mechanization increases job recognition, decreases production costs, and provides workers with the opportunity to earn satisfactory monthly earnings. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first comparatively evaluated study that indicates various strategies implemented by plantations to address worker shortages within a single study setting. To mitigate worker shortages and reduce production costs, the study suggests the importance of sharing managers' experiences with non-adopter categories on the revenue-sharing model and mechanization.