Beef employers often assume that experienced managers are difficult to recruit because most of them are not actively looking.

That is usually true.

It does not mean they are unwilling to listen.

Our 2026 Animal Health & Nutrition Technical Professional Salary Survey included 19 Beef respondents within Technical/Sales Support: nine solo contributors and 10 managers. Among those 10 managers, seven expressed interest in new opportunities, with most indicating that a 10% increase could be enough to consider a move.

That is a small sample, so I would not describe it as evidence that 70% of Beef managers across the industry want to change jobs.

It does give employers something useful to think about.

Experienced managers may be more willing to have a conversation than their LinkedIn activity, application history, or current job status would suggest.

Openness Is Different From an Active Search

The Beef group illustrates an important distinction.

Across all 19 Beef respondents, only one person was actively looking for another job.

Among the 10 managers, however, seven reported some interest in new opportunities.

Those are very different behaviors.

Someone who is actively looking may already be reviewing openings, talking with recruiters, and scheduling interviews.

A manager who is open to a conversation may have no immediate plans to leave.

That person may like the company, respect the leadership team, have strong customer relationships, and still be willing to hear about a role that offers more responsibility, better support, a different territory, or a clearer career path.

For employers, that changes how the search should be approached.

You are often recruiting someone who needs a reason to consider change, not someone who is already trying to make one.

The First Conversation Has to Be Specific

If a manager is already employed and doing well, a vague recruiting message has limited value.

“Great opportunity with a growing company” does not give that person much to evaluate.

Experienced Beef managers usually want details.

What team would they inherit?

What territory or customer base would they support?

Would they carry direct commercial responsibility?

How much technical involvement remains in the position?

What authority comes with the role?

What problems are they being hired to solve?

What is expected during the first year?

Those questions matter because a manager is comparing the unknown opportunity with a job they already understand.

The more accurately the employer can explain the work, the easier it becomes for the candidate to decide whether the conversation deserves more time.

Compensation Needs the Job Behind It

The Beef responses also showed a broad range of compensation.

Among all 19 Beef respondents, four reported a total taxable income of $220,000 or more, and all four were managers.

Within the 10 managers, reported income ranged from less than $90,000 to $220,000 or more. Five supervised one or two employees, and five supervised three or more.

That range explains why a management title alone is not a reliable compensation benchmark.

One Beef manager may lead a small technical group.

Another may carry responsibility for people, customers, revenue, strategic accounts, technical support, and a large geography.

A third may be responsible for building a team that does not yet exist.

Those are different jobs.

Before an employer decides whether a compensation package is competitive, the company needs to clearly define the scope of the position.

Why Might a Manager Be Willing to Listen?

The survey does not tell us exactly why the seven managers expressed interest in new opportunities.

We should not invent those motivations.

In actual recruiting conversations, however, there are several areas worth exploring.

A manager may want broader decision-making authority.

They may be interested in leading a larger group.

They may want less travel, a different market, stronger resources, or a more direct path to senior leadership.

They may also be perfectly comfortable where they are and simply curious about what is happening in the market.

The recruiter’s job is to find out which of those factors, if any, actually matter to that person.

That requires listening before recommending.

A manager who is open to hearing about opportunities is not automatically a good candidate for every role.

A Small Compensation Increase May Be Enough for Some

Among the 10 Beef managers in the survey, the majority of those interested in moving indicated that a 10% increase could be enough to consider another opportunity.

That is interesting because it suggests that a move may not always require a dramatic pay increase.

Again, the sample is small.

The result should not become a compensation rule.

It reinforces something we see regularly in recruiting: the decision is often broader than just money.

A candidate may accept a relatively modest increase if the role improves something else that matters.

Another candidate may turn down a much larger increase because the travel, location, authority, leadership structure, or job risk does not make sense.

The percentage increase is one part of the conversation.

The overall opportunity determines whether that percentage has value.

Employers Should Review the Role Before Starting Outreach

If a company wants to recruit an experienced Beef manager who is already employed, the internal work should happen before the first call.

The hiring team should agree on:

  • what the person will own;
  • what authority they will have;
  • what success should look like during the first year;
  • how the team is structured;
  • how compensation and incentives work;
  • and which qualifications are essential.

This prevents the recruiting message from changing as the process moves forward.

It also helps the employer evaluate candidates based on the work rather than on title similarity alone.

A strong Beef manager may come from a position that looks somewhat different on paper but has already handled many of the same business problems.

The clearer the employer is about those problems, the easier it becomes to recognize transferable experience.

The Market May Be More Reachable Than It Appears

Only one of the 19 Beef respondents was actively seeking another job, yet seven of the 10 managers expressed some openness to opportunities.

That does not mean Beef management talent is easy to recruit.

It means “not applying” should not automatically be interpreted as “not available.”

Some of the strongest candidates may already be employed, successful, and comfortable enough that they have no reason to search job boards.

They may still listen when the position is relevant, and the employer explains it clearly.

For companies hiring Beef leadership, that is a more useful way to think about the candidate market.

Download your copy of the Salary Survey here: www.continentalsearch.com/ebook/2026-ahn-salary-survey/

Source: 2026 Animal Health & Nutrition Technical Professional Salary Survey, Continental Search

Rick Pascual
Practice Director | Ruminant & Swine Nutrition and Health
Continental Search
rick@continentalsearch.com