One of the UK’s largest business lobby groups fought back on the government’s proposal Invest in domestic workers, Said that this move cannot solve the problem of short-term labor shortages, and short-term labor shortages are increasingly putting retailers and supply chains under pressure.
Leading more and more business organizations, Institute of Directors (IoD) is calling for new and flexible visas that allow foreign workers to play key roles in expatriates due to Covid and Brexit, especially as truck drivers.
Roger Barker, director of policy at IoD, said: “Although British companies should certainly invest in the skills and capabilities of domestic labor, this is unlikely to be a solution to short-term labor market shortages.” “The government needs to take a more pragmatic approach. Methods include a more flexible visa system to ease some current business pressures.”
Lack of truck drivers, partly due to the Covid crisis and Brexit, Has put pressure on the UK supply chain It also makes it difficult for some retailers, fast food chains and supermarkets to update their inventory.
Last week, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) reported that inventory levels in August had fallen to the lowest level since the retail industry trend was first tracked nearly 40 years ago, while McDonald’s milkshakes were sold out and Nando’s was forced to close 50 Because of the shortage, it means that it cannot provide the most popular peri-peri dishes.
The supply contraction has been blamed on worker shortages in several key industrial sectors, which has been exacerbated by the pressure of the new crown virus and the shortage of foreign labor caused by Brexit.It forces companies to raise wages to attract employees, including WhiteroseAccording to reports, the company is now preparing to pay £53,780 per year for drivers of large trucks, which is more than the salaries of some of its headquarters executives.
Industry organizations including British Logistics and the British Retail Consortium have also called on the government to provide EU truck drivers with temporary British visas to help solve this problem.
However, the British Secretary of Commerce Kwasi Kwarteng responded that employers should invest in British employees instead of relying on foreign labor, especially because domestic workers may lose financial support after the vacation plan ends on September 30.
In a letter to business groups on Friday, Kwarteng urged employers to help “many British workers [who] We are now facing an uncertain future and we need to find new employment opportunities.”
“I believe you will agree on the importance of using our domestic labor force and how our immigration policy needs to be considered in conjunction with our strategy to ensure that British workers can better obtain decent employment opportunities,” Kwarteng added.
But other industry bodies, including the CBI and the Small Business Federation (FSB), warned that if the current shortage of personnel is not addressed, it may put the post-Covid recovery at risk.
“From HGV drivers to hotels, from skilled food manufacturing workers to professional construction industries, there is no doubt that staff shortages are putting pressure on the post-pandemic recovery,” said Matthew Fair, CBI’s chief policy officer.
Although the vacation plan will help alleviate the labor gap in some cases, he said there are “deeper structural challenges to address”, including skills shortages.
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FSB national chairman Mike Cherry (Mike Cherry) said that in recent months, the number of small businesses that said skills shortages hindered their development has soared. He added: “Unless we let the situation bear, we might even kill the economic recovery before it actually starts.”
“Balance is the key here: we need both an immigration system suitable for companies of all sizes, so that they can acquire the international talents they need for development, and renewed efforts to improve the skills of the next generation and retrain the workers already in the UK. This is an either-or choice is a misleading and unfair practice-it is not a choice,” he said.
“We need to temporarily attract international HGV drivers back, while investing in domestic training-this process may take several months.”
