Agribusiness
Agribusiness Recruitment
Australia’s Agribusiness sector faces a persistent workforce shortage that traditional recruitment and labour hire haven't solved.
Lorg Talent’s Agribusiness team specialise entirely in the provision of international candidates for farming, abattoirs and meat processing businesses. We are experts in Meat Industry Labour Agreements (MILA), Pork Industry Labour Agreements (PILA) and PALM Scheme staffing solutions.
Roles We Recruit
PALM Scheme — Meat Processing
Roles
- Meat Workers
- Meat Process Workers
- Abattoir Labour
Roles We Recruit
PALM Scheme — Agriculture
Roles
- Farm Workers
- General Agricultural Labour
Why Lorg Talent
Directly employing PALM Scheme workers for farming, abattoirs and meat processing plants is a gamechanger for the Agribusiness sector.
Operating in conjunction with our own immigration law firm, Lorg Talent functions as a single integrated partner for your PALM Scheme employer approval, sourcing, compliance and visa management.
The PALM Scheme Advantage for the Agribusiness sector:
For farms, abattoirs and meat processing plants struggling with staff shortages, employing their own PALM Scheme workforce offers, real, measurable advantages over labour hire as well as over Subclass 482 sponsorship through MILA and PILA,
PALM Scheme workers - The savings from Direct Employment vs. Labour Hire
The Bigger Saving: Cutting Out the Labour Hire Margin
The use of PALM Scheme workers through labour hire firms is the norm in the Agribusiness sector. Direct employment of PALM Scheme workers will soon become the new norm.
The most compelling cost case isn't the 482 vs. PALM visa cost comparison. — it's the shift away from labour hire altogether. Labour hire firms typically charge a margin of $25,000–$30,000 per worker, per year, on top of the worker's actual wage. For an abattoir employing 100+ meat workers, that margin compounds into a substantial cost over a 4-year period — often the single largest controllable labour cost in the operation.
Worked example:
30 workers × $27,500 average margin = $825,000/year in savings — scaling to $3.3M over a 4-year visa cycle, or $11M at 100 workers.
Getting Started:
Transitioning an entire workforce at once is a significant undertaking. We typically recommend employers start with a sample cohort of 25–30 workers, allowing them to test the direct-hire model, validate the processes and agreements in practice, and build internal confidence and capability before scaling to their full workforce requirement.
PALM Scheme vs. 482: The Employer Advantage
482 Visa
PALM Scheme
Minimum salary
Bound by TSMIT ($79,423 + super)
Governed by relevant award rates — significantly lower than TSMIT for semi-skilled roles
482 Visa
PALM Scheme
Visa costs
SAF of $4,800 - $7,200, based on turnover + visa application fee of +/- $4,000 per applicant
No SAF levy; visa application fee a fraction of 482 cost
Retention
Employees have flexibility to move between employers
99% of workers stay the full term — can't switch employers under PALM
For semi-skilled and support roles, this means employers aren't forced into 482 salary thresholds that don't reflect the role's actual value — while gaining a workforce with retention rates most sectors can only dream of.
The Bigger Saving
Labour hire margins of $25,000–$30,000 per worker/year compound significantly.
Worked example: 30 workers × $27,500 = $825,000/year, or $3.3M over 4 years — scaling to $11M over 4 years at 100 workers.
Getting Started
We recommend starting with a sample cohort of 25–30 workers to validate the model before scaling.
