Leavers Survey

Moving on from the garden industry? Tell us more...

Hi. The Australian Garden Council wants to understand why people leave the gardening industry in order to improve career paths and the working environment. This very short survey takes only a few minutes to complete. Thank you so much for helping us with it.

Please tell us about your own experiences. All responses are anonymous.

Question Title

* 1. Which of the following best describes your most current or recent gardening employment status? (please tick one):

Sole trader/business owner

Manager

Franchisee

Employee

Apprentice

Volunteer

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 2. Which of the following best describes your current or most recent gardening work? (please tick one):

Allied trades – with other construction work alongside gardening

Gardening supplies – work for an organisation that provides gardening supplies, tools, and/or plants

Public gardening – work for a government or parks related organisation

Private gardening – maintaining or designing gardens for businesses or individuals

Plantsperson - giving plant advice, propagating, or any job mostly focused on using plant knowledge

Other (please specify)

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* 3. What will you or did you do after leaving the garden industry? (please tick one):

Work in another industry

Study

Retire

I'm not leaving the industry

Other (please specify)

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* 4. Are you likely to return to work in the gardening industry? (please tick one):

Yes

Don't know

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* 5. What factors are influencing (or influenced) your decision to leave gardening work? (select all that apply)

Professional gardening work was not what I expected

I was not fully prepared for gardening work

My financial needs changed

My interest or passion for gardening has changed

I had no opportunities to improve my skills

I no longer wanted to work for my employer

I was dismissed or made redundant

My location changed – and so did my opportunities to work in gardening

Weather conditions

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 6. Which of the following were significant barriers to your developing a successful career in gardening? (select all that apply)

Job satisfaction

Lack of professional status (e.g. people who think landscaping means lawnmowing)

Salary/wages – gardening work is not well paid

Nature of the work – e.g. administration takes too much time away from the enjoyable work

Lack of career development opportunities

Lack of on-the-job training

Poor management - gardening businesses not well run

People – managers with poor relationship skills

Lack of variety in the work

Physical strength or capacity to do the tasks required

Other (please specify)

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* 7. How long have you been/were you working in the gardening industry?

Less than 1 year

1 to 3 years

3 to 5 years

5 to 10 years

More than 10 years

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* 8. Anything else you would like to tell us about your gardening industry experience?

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* 9. What is your age?

Under 18

18-24

25-34

35-44

45-54

55-64

65+

Prefer not to say

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* 10. What is your gender?

Male

Female

Prefer not to say

I identify my gender as (please specify):

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* 11. Where do you live?

NSW

VIC

QLD

TAS

ACT

Prefer not to say

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* 12. Would you be willing to participate in further research about gardening?

Yes