London, UK: The logistics industry is failing to attract enough young drivers to replenish those retiring or leaving the workforce and this could lead to another serious shortage, according to a new report from job agency Driver Require.
“Without interventions to address this issue, we will see a depletion of the workforce that will eventually result in another shortage crisis, although this could be a decade away,” says the report.
“Our primary concern is that the sector is still struggling to attract enough young blood to replace the number retiring and leaving the workforce. This churn will increase as inflation erodes the salary increases achieved in 2021 until eventually another shortage crisis will occur.
“The sector can avoid this by maintaining driver pay rates, improving working conditions and attracting more younger drivers into the workforce. This will be hard to achieve in the face of hostile economic forces, such as powerful consolidated buyers, rising fuel costs coupled with rising core inflation, and the need to invest in zero-carbon technologies and fleet.
“All in all, a bleak outlook, but we are encouraged to see increasing government support for and investment in improving roadside HGV services, and commitment to attracting new blood into the workforce through initiatives such as Generation Logistics.”
