PORK Perspectives is a recurring column that provides business and leadership strategy tips from some of the pork industry’s finest. Meet Victor Ochoa, director of Swineworks.
For Victor Ochoa, the TN visa process isn’t just something he talks about. It’s something he’s lived. After attending vet school in Mexico City, he went to work for a pig farm in Mexico that was owned by a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods. Not long after, he was recruited to apply for the TN visa program and join a Smithfield farm in the U.S. in 2007.
From power washing to processing to breeding and managing, Ochoa got an up-close look at what it’s like to work on a U.S. swine farm. He even experienced running an onboarding farm for a couple years. He went on to work for PIC and saw their company face some of the same struggles as Smithfield.
“It opened my eyes to what kind of workers work best and what kind of workers do not make it in this industry. We all know it’s a tough industry, it’s hard work,” Ochoa says. “I have had a lot of friends that decided to leave in less than a year because it was too much for some of them.”
Now, after 15 years of living in the U.S., Ochoa is the director of Swineworks, a family-owned business that started in 2017. Ochoa took over the reins in 2020 and it’s been exploding ever since. He is stationed in the Nashville, Tenn., area while the rest of the team is located throughout Mexico. The business serves both swine producers in the U.S. looking for employees and residents of Mexico who want to find employment in the U.S.
“We’re in an industry, especially in Mexico, where there’s a lot of fraud. People are just trying to get money from the candidates. We don’t try to convince people to come here with false promises that it will be easy, and they will get rich,” Ochoa says. “I always tell my recruits that we never have to convince anybody to come to the U.S. to work. We explain the reality of the job, the reality of the industry, and then whoever ends up coming is truly interested in coming to work in the swine industry.”
Q. Tell me about your business.
A. We are a staffing company that provides recruiting, visa and temporary worker services. Our motto in the U.S. is “We have a snout for talent.” In Mexico, it’s ‘Dedicados a brindarte un mejor futuro,” or “We are dedicated to give you a better future.” We want to provide a better future not only for the people who come to the U.S., but also to the producer as well. It creates a lot of value for them and for us. As a business, we are in an industry that is growing. Being a resource for the industry, for the producers, and for the people in Mexico, is why we want to succeed in this industry.
Q. What makes Swineworks unique?
A. I came into the U.S. under the TN Visa program as a farm technician and went through all of the department roles and activities that producers need staff to fill. I can tell people this is what you’re going to do: power wash, process, vaccinate. It’s going to be cold. You are going to unload trucks at 3 a.m. That’s insight that other companies can’t provide. We can all do the paperwork, but I can help provide them with more information about transitioning into the U.S. and also what helps people succeed.
Q. What is your why?
A. I’m an immigrant, born in Mexico. We don’t have the same opportunities. In Mexico, you can make money, but somebody’s likely going to rob you or you are going to get kidnapped. You don’t get to enjoy that money. You don’t have the same quality of life. My “why” is I want to show people that there are more opportunities here in the U.S. I think my job is to provide that opportunity, to show people in Mexico that it is possible. That’s why I enjoy this.
Q. What is one of the biggest differences between working on a U.S. swine farm vs. a farm in Mexico?
A. When I was working at farms in Mexico, there were some open positions, and the minimum requirement was five to 10 years of experience to get into a management position. Here in the U.S., because there’s a limited workforce, you can get promoted in three months. You’re actually saving time -10 years of your life – to get a better position than you would have in Mexico. I have a lot of satisfaction when I see somebody has been successful in this industry, especially coming from a country where you don’t have those opportunities.
Q. How does your company help and work with its customers?
A. When we receive a call, we know they have probably experienced several months of being short staffed, so we are always looking for ways to streamline our process, so it produces the labor they need when they need it.
Q. What concerns do you have about the swine industry?
A. I believe what happened with porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) back in the 1990s, when a lot of small producers disappeared and a lot of consolidation happened, will happen again because of the labor issues our industry faces. Not that many producers are going to be able to pay $20 an hour to attract people like the largest companies can. Start focusing – not necessarily investing more money – on different ways of attracting people and retaining them.
Q. What are the greatest opportunities in the swine industry today?
A. I believe the swine industry, or agriculture in general, is very disconnected with younger generations. Without the workforce, it is very difficult to produce pork. I think there are only two ways to survive in this environment: invest in technology to automate the process and use less labor or really invest in attracting workers and developing retention strategies.
Q. What do you enjoy most about your job?
A. Meeting challenges and solving problems. Immigration is very inconsistent. I can see two sides of the coin – from a worker’s perspective and a producer’s perspective. Sometimes both can be unrealistic, but a lot of the time, they want the same thing – to be successful and get paid for doing a good job. I love seeing how some producers are not offering that much money but have better results in terms of turnover compared to other people offering more money. That made me curious about why they are struggling to retain people. We have some producers that really care about their people compared to other producers that just see another body to help.
Q. Why are you so passionate about bridging generation gaps?
A. I think we are in a battle right now, where the producers are baby boomers and workaholics. It’s their farm and they want to have a career – they don’t take days off. Then we have the millennials that want to see technology, that value their time and seek balance. Everybody complains about millennials, until they have a problem on the computer. I think it’s all about how you manage each generation and how you take advantage of their skills.
Q. Who inspires you?
A. What inspires me the most is when I see immigrants thrive. It’s inspiring how these people come with nothing and can get a better life. The easiest way would be to stay in Mexico and make money doing bad things. They decide to come here and work to have a better life.
Q. What will the business look like 20 years from now?
A. I think in 20 years the industry will shift from entry-level positions to equipment operators, robots, computers. We need to change our model to find people who will be filling these roles, from mass recruiting to a more specialized staffing process. I think we’re going to be needing less people. We have to adapt and find the people that are going to be needed in 20 years.
Q. If you could go back and do something differently in your career, what would it be and why?
A. Start earlier. I spent almost 10 years working for Smithfield. I love agriculture and swine production. I think at some point, you can get too comfortable in one spot and start getting scared of taking new opportunities, because you are living a good life and you are comfortable with your surroundings. If I could change something, I would have gone to PIC and Swineworks earlier. Sometimes we wait for the perfect moment and then that perfect moment never comes.
Q. What advice do you have for someone who might like to do what you do someday?
A. Don’t be scared. If you are always trying to time the market and have everything perfect, it’s never going to happen. “Perfection” is the enemy of “done,” so prepare, learn, study—but nothing beats doing (action).
Read More:
7 Things You Need to Know Before Hiring Workers from Mexico
What’s Holding You Back from Utilizing the TN Visa Program to Grow Your Team?
