Recruiters see supply of workers dry up after Brexit

RECRUITERS say they have watched the number of available workers dry up because of restrictions on free movement imposed under the UK Government’s Brexit plans.

One said they had seen nothing like it in two decades.

Nationally, there has already been a shortage of HGV drivers – partly due to EU drivers heading home.

Earlier this month Richard Harpin, the founder of Homeserve,warned a shortage of skilled trade workers had developed as EU migrants left the UK, with things looking bad in construction and other trades.

Eileen Richards, who is president of the East Midlands Chamber, said: “There are a number of big external forces at play.

“Latest ONS data shows around five per cent of the UK workforce remains on some kind of furlough and that continues to distort the market.

“On a couple of occasions I have been on a call with the Bank of England or the chamber’s Covid response meeting and people have been talking about the recruitment challenge.”

Meanwhile, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation has estimated there is a shortfall of 30,000 lorry drivers in the UK.

The concept of a pointsbased system to attract workers to the UK is an easy sell to many, but the fact remains, say business leaders, that the UK needs people who want to do the jobs like picking potatoes, packing the boxes and driving the lorries.

But Ms Richards is upbeat in some respects: “Some sectors are emerging from the pandemic positively. We are working with businesses which have grown exponentially during the last 12 months.

“This means that new roles are being created and the best companies want the best people to fill them. What’s more, they are prepared to pay to get the outcome they want.

“That candidate-driven market is providing an opportunity for candidates to be more selective about where they apply.

“The best job-seekers are not staying on the market for long. Recruiters don’t currently have the luxury of processes lasting weeks or months.

“It means that this is a logical time for them to reconsider how they present themselves during recruitment and on-boarding.”