Whilst the shortage of HGV drivers is not a new challenge to the UK haulage industry, due to the pandemic and the lack of skilled workers, this shortage has hit a crisis point.
The Road Haulage Association (RHA) has recently estimated that the UK is experiencing a shortfall of as many as 100,000 HGV drivers compared to the 60,000 pre-pandemic. This shortage has led to difficulties with perishable goods meaning food is going to waste as a direct result of driver shortages. On top of that, vital medical supplies and household goods are being delayed due to the lack of drivers available on the roads.
Brexit has also created the perfect storm for those trying to source talent, as the UK’s resignation prompted around 15,000 European HGV drivers to leave the UK for mainland Europe. Such a high volume of drivers leaving the UK HGV market has left haulage companies with a backlog of potential candidates wanting to book HGV driving test slots with the DVSA.
Challenges faced by HGV employers
Employers are struggling to fund enough investment to push young people through the correct courses, with high insurance and training costs. Inadequate roadside facilities for drivers and drivers’ hour’s legislation and lack of secure parking also add to the pressures of finding new recruits, with high crime rates in certain counties in the UK and high volumes of traffic.
Another burden for the haulage sector is an increasingly aging workforce. As more and more people are having to work longer in order to be able to retire, 55 is now the average age of an HGV driver. An aging workforce comes with additional stresses such as pension payouts and employees wanting to reduce their hours or even become part-time. Along with this, many drivers are approaching retirement age and few younger drivers are coming through to replace them – in fact, less than 1% of the workforce are under 25.
On top of all this, employers and recruiters are struggling to find the time to source the best talent with the correct qualifications needed. With demand so high employers are needing to find candidates fast, so are starting to look for new and cheaper ways to track down prospects.
How can we help
We’re the market-leading supplier of innovative end-to-end recruitment solutions. We provide HR professionals, recruiters and hiring teams with innovative cloud-based technology aimed at streamlining their recruitment process, making it quicker and easier to recruit whilst significantly reducing the time and cost to hire.
As early pioneers of multi-job posting technology our expertise extends into candidate response management, CV comparing and scoring, search capabilities through to candidate onboarding and more.
Our involvement starts with the design and promotion of your career’s website. It is imperative that your careers page attracts the right kind of talent. It is also essential that your careers page promotes your brand and ethos and is also quick, secure, mobile compatible and has a seamless application process.
Our applicant tracking software system can cover everything a recruitment team could possibly need to hire directly from the initial job posting through to onboarding and everything in between. We uniquely design the solution for you and only include what you need. If you need something we don’t have – we will work with you to build the technology you need.
Some of our features and functions include; client branding, multi-posting, task management, SMS communication, onboarding, detailed and bespoke reports, second stage applicant forms.
If you’d like more information about our recruitment software services and solutions, click here. Alternatively get in touch and chat with a member of our team using our LIVE chat tool on our website.
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