They Can’t Find Shepherds Willing to Work for 5,000 TL a Month! Employers Wait Hopelessly
The coronavirus pandemic continues to significantly affect many sectors. Border closures caused by the pandemic have left employers unable to hire the workers they need, and they are waiting helplessly. Şahset Karaman, President of the Erzurum Central Chamber of Agriculture, says that after the borders were closed they could not find shepherds to employ. He states that in the Aziziye district alone there is a need for at least 100 shepherds. Karaman adds that many Turkish citizens do not want to take shepherd jobs even when the monthly pay exceeds 5,000 TL, partly because they receive support from charitable foundations. For this reason, he says, they are eagerly waiting for the borders to reopen so Afghan workers can come.
Karaman says there is no one in the Eastern Anatolia Region willing to pursue a career as a shepherd. He notes that interest in shepherding has become almost negligible, and for the past five years they have been hiring imported shepherds. However, because of border closures due to the coronavirus pandemic, many of those seasonal workers who returned to their home countries for the winter have not been able to return, and livestock owners have begun to herd their animals themselves.
No One Will Work as a Shepherd for 5,000 TL a Month!
In Erzurum province, even a monthly salary of 5,000 TL has not been enough to attract shepherds. Livestock owners in the region report that despite searching across the province for shepherds willing to work for 5,000 TL per month, they could not find candidates. Initially they recruited from neighboring provinces and later brought shepherds from Afghanistan to solve the labor shortage. When winter came, many imported shepherds returned to their home countries and, due to pandemic-related border closures, did not come back. Unable to find people to herd their animals, many breeders began doing the work themselves.
Aziziye District Chamber of Agriculture President Şahset Karaman says the shepherd shortage is severe in all districts, and he provided details about the demand. Karaman explains that the chamber is responsible for 104 neighborhoods, and at least 40 of them are looking for shepherds. If each of those neighborhoods seeks three shepherds, that equals at least 100 shepherd positions just in Aziziye. He notes that the problem is even larger in other districts, and across eastern provinces the need runs into the thousands. Karaman emphasizes that practically no one wants to work as a shepherd in the region. He adds that he has occasionally worked as a shepherd himself, but when he asks why others do not take such jobs they often respond, “The state takes care of us anyway.”
Karaman also points out that many people who work in İŞKUR-supported jobs receive minimum wage, but they still refuse to work as shepherds even for 5,000 or 6,000 TL a month. He attributes this reluctance mainly to social assistance programs: aid provided by Social Assistance and Solidarity Foundations in the provinces reduces the incentive to take demanding seasonal labor. Another factor, he says, is rural-to-urban migration. Young people move to cities for work and marriage prospects, often citing reasons like the lack of brides in villages, and few want to remain in rural areas.
The combination of pandemic-related border closures, the return of seasonal foreign workers, and long-term demographic shifts has created a serious workforce gap in pastoral farming. Local leaders and livestock owners are calling for solutions to address the shortage of shepherds, while many continue to manage herds themselves in the meantime.