The poultry industry values intercultural and workforce competencies in new hires

The poultry industry relies on a diverse workforce operating within complex production and social environments, requiring employees to demonstrate strong interpersonal and intercultural competencies alongside technical expertise. This study explored how poultry industry leaders describe workforce competencies necessary for success and examined how these expectations are reflected in current hiring practices. An exploratory qualitative design was employed, combining a focus group with poultry industry leaders (n = 11) and a descriptive content analysis of poultry-related job postings (n = 46) collected from industry job boards. Focus group participants consistently emphasized communication, relationship building, adaptability, and cultural awareness as essential competencies for navigating multilingual production environments and managing complex workplace interactions. Job postings frequently referenced communication and teamwork but relied primarily on generalized descriptors that did not fully capture the interpersonal and intercultural contexts of poultry operations, suggesting a disconnect between industry discourse and recruitment language. These findings highlight the importance of experiential learning opportunities and mentorship in helping students and future employees develop the interpersonal and intercultural competencies necessary to navigate modern poultry workplaces. The results also suggest that refining hiring language to more clearly articulate relational expectations within diverse environments may improve alignment between educational preparation, workforce recruitment, and industry needs.