Investigating casual workers in the wine tourism industry of Western Cape in South Africa

The study, with the aid of two primary surveys, investigated the personal characteristics, employment history, remuneration, job satisfaction and challenges of 202 casual workers from 21 wine farms across four areas in the Western Cape province in South Africa. The selection and retention practices conducted by the 25 managers in these fine farms were also investigated. The findings showed that the majority of wine farm casual workers were Africans aged below 35 years, with Grade 12 (Matric) as the highest qualification. For those with prior work experience, most of them previously worked in the wholesale and retail trade or agriculture industry. On average, they worked 36 hours per week and most of them received some form of training, primarily in customer service and wine knowledge. More than half of the casual workers were satisfied with remuneration and payment consistency. However, irregular work hours and lack of job security were the two main challenges, yet nearly two thirds reported they would stay in the wine farm if they are offered a permanent job with high enough remuneration. The study concluded by recommending the redistribution of tourism demand and supply more evenly during the year and how to further boost wine farm labour demand during the off-peak season.