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Nursery worker hiring summary. Here are some key points about hiring nursery workers in the United States:
Here's a step-by-step nursery worker hiring guide:
First, determine the employments status of the nursery worker you need to hire. Certain nursery worker roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.
A nursery worker's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, nursery workers from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.
Here's a comparison of nursery worker salaries for various roles:
| Type of Nursery Worker | Description | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|
| Nursery Worker | Agricultural workers maintain the quality of farms, crops, and livestock by operating machinery and doing physical labor under the supervision of farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers. | $10-15 |
| Garden Center Employee | Garden center employees are nursery works working in a greenhouse or outdoors. The tasks of employees include planting, growing, watering, and pruning... Show more | $9-20 |
| Grower | Growers monitor crop development and substandard plant removal to take care of quality standards. They maintain records of growing techniques and products to be used for review to identify trends and to forecast future space needs... Show more | $10-29 |
| Rank | State | Avg. salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oregon | $34,923 | $17 |
| 2 | Colorado | $32,281 | $16 |
| 3 | New York | $31,484 | $15 |
| 4 | Ohio | $30,530 | $15 |
| 5 | California | $29,743 | $14 |
| 6 | New Jersey | $28,856 | $14 |
| 7 | Maryland | $28,809 | $14 |
| 8 | Arizona | $27,152 | $13 |
| 9 | Virginia | $25,286 | $12 |
| 10 | Texas | $24,401 | $12 |
| 11 | North Carolina | $24,394 | $12 |
| 12 | Louisiana | $23,078 | $11 |
| Rank | Company | Average salary | Hourly rate | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Twin Lakes Community | $29,552 | $14.21 | |
| 2 | Prolifics | $29,440 | $14.15 | |
| 3 | Hancock Whitney | $28,801 | $13.85 | |
| 4 | Blooming Colors Nursery | $28,436 | $13.67 | |
| 5 | Castro & Company | $28,258 | $13.59 | |
| 6 | PeopleReady | $28,219 | $13.57 | 120 |
| 7 | lakeforest | $28,092 | $13.51 | |
| 8 | Moon Valley Nurseries | $28,005 | $13.46 | |
| 9 | Gaia Herbs | $27,988 | $13.46 | |
| 10 | Keewaydin | $27,821 | $13.38 | |
| 11 | Bissett Nursery | $27,820 | $13.38 | |
| 12 | The Florida Bar | $27,813 | $13.37 | |
| 13 | Studebaker Nurseries | $27,794 | $13.36 | |
| 14 | Illinois Farm Bureau | $27,785 | $13.36 | |
| 15 | The Bruce Company | $27,770 | $13.35 | 1 |
| 16 | TMA Solutions | $27,765 | $13.35 | |
| 17 | Eagle Crest Communities | $27,527 | $13.23 | |
| 18 | Northern Nurseries, Inc. | $27,518 | $13.23 | |
| 19 | Four Seasons | $27,451 | $13.20 | 3 |
| 20 | Green Circle Growers | $27,324 | $13.14 |
A nursery worker job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a nursery worker job description:
To find the right nursery worker for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:
To successfully recruit nursery workers, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.
It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.
The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.
Once you've selected the best nursery worker candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.
It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.
Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new nursery worker. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.
Before you start to hire nursery workers, it pays to consider both the one-off costs like recruitment, job promotion, and onboarding, as well as the ongoing costs of an employee's salary and benefits. While most companies that hire nursery workers pay close attention to the initial cost of hiring, ongoing costs are much more significant in the long run.
You can expect to pay around $27,083 per year for a nursery worker, as this is the median yearly salary nationally. This can vary depending on what state or city you're hiring in. If you're hiring for contract work or on a per-project basis, hourly rates for nursery workers in the US typically range between $10 and $15 an hour.