Is your business planning ahead for the driver shortage in Oxfordshire?
Foreign drivers leaving the UK post Brexit are causing a lorry driver shortage. This is a risk to Oxfordshire Logistics businesses, but luckily Mayday Employment is on the case to fill the gap.
Eastern European lorry drivers are considering leaving Britain due the drop in the pound post Brexit because their wages are no longer worth so much when sent to their families back home as they were pre-brexit.
Haulage chiefs concerned about the anticipated driver shortage have spoken out saying that truckers from countries like Poland are now reluctant to come and work in the UK due to Sterling’s lower exchange rate, which results in lower wages when they convert it back to their home currencies. Drivers are also wary of a continued drop in the value of the pound as Britain’s negotiations with the EU continue with uncertainty.
Industry leaders fear this could lead to a shortage of labour in the logistics sector, with some Britons reluctant to pick up the workload instead.
Not everyone sees this as a negative development as some critics will point out that foreign drivers who send the majority of their wages back home to family are not contributing as much to the UK economy as those who choose to spend their wages here in the UK.
UK haulage companies are dependent on Eastern European drivers.
The latest figures estimate that there are in excess of 60,000 lorry drivers from Eastern Europe working for British firms, with hauliers now “heavily dependent” on a continued influx of overseas drivers to keep them going.
Quick to anticipate this problem in the wake of the Brexit vote last year, Mayday were quick to launch a dedicated campaign to attract lorry drivers in Banbury and Oxfordshire.
After a successful few months Mayday is proud to boast the largest pool of professional drivers in Oxfordshire.
We want Oxfordshire based Logistics businesses to know that even if they are not yet working with Mayday to supply temporary or permanent drivers, we are still working on their behalf.
Andy Keyser, Branch Manager at Mayday Employment Ltd explains “Our business is serving our Oxfordshire based logistics clients to the best of our ability and one way we can do that is to anticipate driver shortages before they have a negative impact on our clients operations.
Clearly Brexit has been the biggest single factor to affect driver availability in recent years so we decided to launch a highly targeted and creative marketing campaign to attract and retain the best drivers in Oxfordshire.
I’m pleased to say that the campaign has been a resounding success and lorry drivers have responded very positively to it, resulting in Mayday now having more lorry drivers on our books than we have ever had. We want Oxfordshire based Logistics businesses to know that even if they are not yet working with Mayday to supply temporary or permanent drivers, we are still working on their behalf.
Road Haulage Association predicts further lorry driver shortages
The Road Haulage Association (RHA) industry body warned that company bosses are now worried that the readily available pool of foreign workers will dry up post-Brexit.
The RHA stated: “There is a clear fear among members that foreign drivers will start to return home, and become more reluctant to come to the UK. This is as a result of the decreasing value of sterling based wages when converted back into the drivers’ home currency.
“The RHA is starting to get reports from members that this is now happening. The industry already faces inflationary pressures due to a structural shortage of licensed and qualified lorry drivers.”
To find out how Mayday Employment can supply professional drivers to your business please contact Andy Keyser on 01295 266 288, email andy@maydayemployment.co.uk or visit our Logisitcs client page
Mayday has partnered up with a digital marketing agency in order to utilize the latest techniques in digital recruitment, for more information please visit our digital recruitment page.