The government is under pressure to relax immigration regulations after Brexit to relieve the UK’s worst supply chain crisis since the 1970s, and business leaders warned that continued disruption could ruin Christmas.
Industry bosses said that as retailers struggle to maintain shelf inventory, and in the crisis triggered by Covid and Brexit, restaurants have sold out food and beverages, so urgent changes to the visa system are needed.
The industry estimates that there is a shortage of hundreds of thousands of workers needed to drive trucks, handle goods in warehouses, and pick fruits and vegetables. Company bosses and trade groups now warn that if ministers refuse to allow more EU workers to enter the UK, they may face a more serious crisis this winter.
The chairman of Tesco, the UK’s largest supermarket group, called for more drivers to cope with an estimated 100,000 shortage. “I think there may be some shortages at Christmas,” he warned. “At present, we are doing our best to meet existing demand, and we are not able to build the inventory we want to see.”
Richard Walker, Managing Director of Iceland said, Britain faces shortage of HGV drivers This has resulted in 30-40 deliveries being cancelled every day. He clearly linked these issues to Brexit, calling the crisis a “self-inflicted wound” and it could get worse. “The simple solution is to add HGV truck drivers to the list of necessary and skilled workers,” he said.
However, the ministers seemed unwilling to make concessions on visa issues. The government continued to insist on Wednesday that employers need to take more steps to recruit and retain British workers. A spokesperson for the Home Office said: “The British people have voted on many occasions to end free movement and take back control of our immigration system. Employers should invest in our domestic labor, not rely on foreign labor.”
The Guardian’s analysis of the UK’s National Bureau of Statistics’ labor market data confirms the extent to which Eastern Europeans have fallen in the UK’s workforce since the pandemic began and after the UK’s departure from the European Union earlier this year.
Since the end of 2019, the number of Romanian and Bulgarian workers in the UK usually fills low-paying logistics and food production positions, but it has dropped by nearly 90,000, or 24%. At the same time, the number of employees from eight Eastern European countries, including Poland and the Czech Republic, fell by more than 100,000, or 12%.
At the same time, industry sources said that in addition to the shortage of truck drivers, there are also a shortage of tens of thousands of seasonal agricultural workers, and the meat processing plant needs 14,000 people.
CBI Director-General Tony Danker said that there is no doubt that staff shortages are beginning to drag down the recovery of the British economy from the pandemic. Changes in immigration rules can help companies facing serious problems.
“The government needs to look at the challenges from an industry perspective and identify solutions that can have an impact quickly. This may mean that we need to be flexible in the way we use the immigration system to introduce fixed-term visas for shortage occupations,” he said.
Rod McKenzie of the Road Transport Association said that ministers are trying to solve this problem and put it at the door of the industry. “It is frustrating that the government is so inactive on this issue,” he said.
He said that transporters will respond by improving pay and conditions, offering bonuses for new employees, and investing in employee training, but short-term solutions are essential to prevent the winter collapse.
“We now need truck drivers with ovens ready at all times. We think we should provide short-term visas for Europeans or drivers from anywhere else to help them for three to six months,” he said.
Earlier this month, a manufacturing survey revealed that the UK is suffering from The worst supply chain disruption since at least 1977The retailer also stated that their inventory levels have dropped to Lowest level since the early 1980s.
The Labour Party warned that voters are losing patience with supply shortages and hoped that the government would take action to solve these problems. Jenny Chapman, the shadow minister for Brexit affairs, said: “The last thing we need now is to cause more self-interference with our food and beverage supplies.”
Companies said that the government needs to update its list of shortage occupations to address the skills gap. The positions on the list will receive more points to make it easier to obtain visas to work in the UK, although truck drivers and several other positions where the company warns of shortages are currently not included.
The Federation of Small Businesses stated: “The skills gap in the fields of cargo transportation, construction, care and leisure is now beginning to put heavy pressure on small businesses across the country, and the government should be ready to take action at any time.”
