The National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP) Foundation is surveying contractors to better understand the demographic makeup of the industry. The association is encouraging all members to fill out a survey detailing basic statistics about their employees.
Survey questions ask companies to list age ranges, ethnicity information, race and gender characteristics for owners, office staff members, managers and crew members.
“For years, the Foundation has been focused on supporting industry education and attracting new people to careers in landscape and lawn care,” said Britt Wood, interim foundation executive director. “This national research study will help us identify areas where we are doing well and where we need to work harder to attract underrepresented groups into our industry; allowing us to offer career advancement opportunities to more people.”
In addition to racial and gender information, the survey asks if employees are veterans, disabled or working in an H-2B visa.
Survey participants can enter information on the foundation’s website or download a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, fill out the answers and upload that file to the foundation.
NALP officials say the results will show how the industry stacks up against the demographics of the general United States workforce, identify underrepresented groups and allow the foundation to work to attract them to landscaping.
Surveys must be completed by July 9 and the results will be made available in fall. Participating companies will receive a final copy of the report, prior to the public release, with data to compare their company to the industry averages.
