United Kingdom: companies greatly affected by labor shortage

The lack of truckers to transport the fuel has caused a serious shortage in the UK in recent days.

AP - Frank Augstein

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

In the United Kingdom, the shortage of labor in road transport, agriculture and hotels, and for that matter all sectors of the economy, is putting a large number of companies under pressure. from the country.

This is what confirmed, Monday, October 4, an investigation of the consulting firm BDO.

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According to a survey of 500 mainly medium-sized UK companies, more than a quarter of them confirm that they cannot function normally due to a critical shortage of staff. 

Result, according to the consulting firm BDO, author of the study, some of them are preparing to slow down their production and lower their service offer.

Their stocks will in fact decrease and they will also have difficulty in obtaining supplies.

Other companies plan to increase prices to maintain their offer.

A situation that will have a significant impact on the purchasing power of consumers, as Christmas shopping approaches.

The prices of food products, medicines, hospital care, would also rise. 

The responsible pandemic and Brexit

Among the companies questioned, around 100 are considering increasing salaries or offering additional benefits to attract new employees.

40% of them say that the pandemic and Brexit are responsible for this shortage.

There are not enough British people who are competent in their field of expertise and it is very difficult to hire foreign workers.

The road transport sector

, pubs and restaurants, and the hospital world are particularly under pressure.

Last week, Boris Johnson had already authorized more than 10,000 visas to reinforce the number of European truckers in order to deliver fuel to service stations and calm the worries of the British.

► To read also: After Brexit and Covid-19, the United Kingdom suffers from a shortage of meat

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