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100,000 to go. truck drivers
There are tough times in the United Kingdom (UK), which is experiencing a labor shortage. Residents have had to save fuel recently because the truck worker shortage is so great that supplies from gas stations have been depleted. The food industry is also experiencing severe staff shortages, but new challenges are already looming on the horizon, with delays in imports of toys, bicycles and electronics, and fears that Christmas will be different from before.
These challenges have forced the UK government to change its immigration policy after leaving the European Union: the country will issue 5,000. temporary work visas for truckers and 5.5 thousand pigs. Visas for workers in the poultry sector, valid from October to the end of December. However, it is estimated that the country needs a total of about 100,000. truck drivers.
The labor shortage is also attracted by higher wages: According to the Telegraph, European truck drivers are offered up to a fifth higher wage than Britons doing the job.
Scanpix / AP photo / Stagnant supply chains in British supermarkets
Will these measures help to manage the crisis? Some in the logistics industry question this.
“Short-term visas and higher wages can attract foreign workers, but I don’t think that will significantly change the situation. It is important that the employment is long-term and that the conditions to start a business are facilitated, ”Jens Romer Sode, CEO of Girteka Logistics in Scandinavia, told the BBC.
The impact of wage increases in fighting the crisis is also questionable.
An anonymous representative from the retail sector, Telegraph, expressed doubts whether the higher wages would be enough to attract truck drivers. He noted that Germany, which also faces a shortage of truck drivers and does not need a visa, may find it more attractive to Europeans.
He also warns that the burden of rising wages will be shifted to workers.
Photo from 123RF.com / UK Flag
The UK Logistics Association fears that the plan presented by the Government is “impotent” due to the short validity of the visas.
“We have asked for six-month visas so that the Agency for Drivers and Vehicles can train more drivers.” A two-month visa is unlikely to attract drivers from the EU, “said Elizabeth de Jong, policy director at the EU. association.
Contact with former drivers
At the time, UK Transport Secretary Gregory Shapps sent letters to nearly a million former truck drivers urging them to return to work.
“If you no longer work in this sector, we would like to ask you to consider returning. There are great opportunities in the logistics sector, and working conditions and wages are improving, ”said the Secretary of Transportation in a letter.
However, employer action is also expected to attract workers. A government spokesman told the Telegraph that the trucking worker shortage was a global problem and solutions were being sought with the industry. “But we also want employers to come up with long-term solutions for better working conditions and higher wages.”
Volvo Trucks photo / truck driver
This problem is not limited to the UK. JR Sode told the BBC that Girteka Logistics intends to employ 7,000 truckers this year, but that training will take time. “It is not something that happens here and now,” JRSode said.
He noted that in some Eastern European countries there had been an infinite number of workers seeking such work in the past, but the situation had definitely changed.
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