Hire UK workers to drive lorries, minister tells firms
Business / Sat 28th Aug 2021 at 10:09am
BUSINESSES have been told to prioritise hiring UK-based workers rather than relying on labour from abroad to fix a shortage of lorry drivers reports the BBC.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng rejected calls from firms to loosen immigration rules, saying it would be a “short-term temporary solution”.
Companies should look to those facing an “uncertain future” when the furlough scheme ends next month, he said.
A growing number of firms have said the issue has led to product shortages.
Last weekend trade bodies the British Retail Consortium and Logistics UK, which represents the freight sector wrote to the government warning the shortfall of drivers was “placing increasingly unsustainable pressure on retailers and their supply chains”.
A combination of Covid, post-Brexit immigration rules and other factors has meant there are not enough drivers to meet demand, with the shortages affecting well-known brands such as Nando’s and McDonald’s, as well as supermarkets.
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Some workers on furlough are being paid £2000 a month after tax for sitting at home scratching themselves no wonder some do not want to return to work after an 18 month "holiday" They may be feeling smug now but a lot of them will not have a job to go back to when the furlough scheme ends in September and believe me dole is a lot less so make the most of it or get a job as a lorry driver.
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