Britain’s leading business lobby group, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has warned that the labour crisis could last for up to two years, calling upon ministers to take action on visas for foreign workers and stop “waiting for shortages to solve themselves.” The CBI launched a broadside against the government, saying the UK’s economic recovery from the winter lockdown was being undermined by a lack of skills in key positions, with mounting risks that the problem would continue for some time.
CBI director general Tony Danker said, “Standing firm and waiting for shortages to solve themselves is not the way to run an economy. We need to simultaneously address short-term economic needs and long-term economic reform.” Danker said the government’s ambition to make the British labour force more highly skilled and productive was right, and that businesses would train and hire more homegrown workers in time.
Danker said, “A refusal to deploy temporary and targeted interventions to enable economic recovery is self-defeating.” The CBI is calling for the government’s shortage occupation list to be updated to include lorry drivers, welders, butchers, and bricklayers. A lack of butchers in slaughterhouses has caused a crisis on pig farms, and the National Pig Association has warned that farmers may have to kill and burn nearly 100,000 animals unless ministers agree to a temporary relaxation of visa rules.
Britain also needs about 100,000 more lorry drivers if the Road Haulage Association is to be believed. Danker said, “Businesses are already spending significant amounts on training, but that takes time to yield results, and some members suggest it could take two years rather than a couple of months for labour shortages to be fully eliminated.”
Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng wrote to business leaders last month calling for firms to hire British workers to deal with labour shortages rather than relying on immigration. With the furlough scheme due to be removed at the end of September, Danker suggested domestic workers should be a priority. Dnaker said, “Many UK-based workers now face an uncertain future and need to find new employment opportunities.”
He added, “Furlough ending is not the panacea some people think will magically fit labour supply gaps. These shortages are already affecting business operations and will have a negative impact on the UK’s economic recovery.”