Can Temporary Visas Help the UK Labour Shortage?

There have many news recently stories focusing on the shortage of HGV drivers and agriculture, food processing, and hospitality workers. Industry leaders have called on the government to open up new temporary pathways so immigrants can fill these labour shortages.

The government’s response so far has been that employers should recruit existing staff from the UK, and invest in training for people who are unemployed or on furlough. Independent experts have suggested there are a number of factors that contribute to the shortage and that alternative solutions may be possible without resorting to immigration.

Why are there labour shortages?

Many reasons have been cited as the cause of the labour shortages. These include a lack of available people to do the work, as well as poor pay and working conditions. Richard Burnett, Chief Executive of the Road Haulage Association, has said that UK lorry drivers have been underpaid for a long time.

In a letter to the Guardian, Richard Simpson, the former editor of Trucking magazine, says: “There are around 600,000 people with an LGV cat C (rigid truck) or a cat C+E (articulated lorry) licence in the UK who are not currently driving trucks for a living. Why would they return to the job? The facilities are poor, the hours are brutal and the responsibilities are onerous.”

Whilst the urgency of the shortage of HGV drivers is clear, employers have also drawn attention to the fact that Skilled Worker Visas exclude some workers – including HGV drivers.

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