Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, UK: Tesco is offering a £1,000 signing-on fee for lorry drivers who join the company before the end of September as the driver shortage crisis intensifies.
According to press reports, the bonus is being offered on a job advert posted on Tesco’s site, with the supermarket telling potential candidates: “You’ll play a vital role for our customers and communities, representing Tesco on the highways and byways of the UK.”
However, the Road Haulage Association, which estimates that the UK is short of about 100,000 drivers, believes that Tesco is not the only company dangling cash offers in front of drivers to persuade them to join up.
A spokesman for the RHA told Sky News:“Some of our members have told us that they’ve had to pay sweeteners to get drivers to work for them. “We’ve heard £1,000 before, but I wouldn’t say that’s right across the board. But drivers’ rates are certainly increasing in the sector as the vacancies grow.”
There are a number of reasons behind the driver shortage. Problems associated with Brexit are believed to have led to thousands of drivers leaving the country, while IR35 tax changes have also contributed to the shortage. At the same time the shutdown of driving test centres throughout the pandemic meant only 15,000 candidates were able to complete their training successfully – a drop of 25,000 from the previous year.
The “pingdemic” has also exacerbated the driver availability issue. The RHA has been calling for immediate action in the form of access to drivers from overseas on short-term visas. It also wants drivers who have been double vaccinated, with a negative Covid test, to be exempt from self isolation.
