The concept of “war for talent” is mainly associated with the struggle between companies to recruit engineers and other technical profiles. In the United Kingdom, a real war for drivers has erupted, with more and more retailers offering financial incentives to attract new truck drivers.

£ 5000 bonus

The last in the list is Marks & Spencer: new drivers at logistics partner Gist have the prospect of a total bonus of 5000 pounds. As soon as they sign, they will immediately receive £ 2,000, and the longer they stay, they will receive other retention premiums, reports Retail Gazette.

Aldi announced earlier that it would increase the wages of his drivers to keep the existing ones on board as well as to attract new drivers. Tesco, on the other hand, is waving a check for £ 1,000 for every new driver who comes on board between now and the end of September.

Pingdemic

There are several reasons for this fierce battle for drivers. To begin with, there is the so-called “pingdemic”. This phenomenon, referring to the “ping” sound, which is the Uk’s corona-the app when a co-contact indicates to a user that a significant proportion of the UK population is constantly in a mandatory ten-day quarantine to go. This causes permanent staff problems in a wide range of companies.

The coronavirus crisis has also led to an acute shortage of qualified drivers in another way. Sector Federation Road Haulage Association (RHA) estimates that there is a shortage of around 60,000 truck drivers, after as many as 30,000 driving exams could not take place last year due to the pandemic.

Brexit

The last, more structural, cause is Brexit. This has led many foreign truck drivers to leave the UK. Because this category of workers is not on the notorious skilled labour list of the British government, they can only return after they have gone through long immigration formalities.

The British government is trying to alleviate the distress by easing quarantine obligations and promised a number of measures to make the general life of truck drivers more pleasant. This involves more rest and parking spaces and higher standards for truck stops. But the RHA is very critical of those commitments, which would not be sufficient to solve the most urgent needs.