London
CNN Business
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job in united kingdom Problem. There just not enough workers To prop up their economy, and many workers are growing furious about inflation taking a huge toll from their paychecks.
problem on tuesday As thousands of railway workers left Strike demanding better wages and working conditions – Railways’ biggest walkout in 30 years Large parts of the network came to a standstill. More strikes have been scheduled for Thursday and Saturday.
A separate strike by workers on the London Underground also halted tube services.
The railway strike could continue for months, said the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, and teachers, nurses and other workers could walk out as their wages lag behind rising inflation rates, now after Estimated to peak above 11%. year. Unison, a union representing 1.3 million public sector workers, said last week that it was “ready to strike”.
Kate Nichols, CEO of trade body UK Hospitality, reported this month’s rail strikes could cost the tourism, leisure and theater industries more than £1bn ($1.2bn) alone. times radio Last week.
The heat of the strikes will deal a massive blow to an economy that has been turned upside down. But activity in industries such as aviation, hospitality and social care had already been halted due to a record number of 1.3 million vacancies in the last official count.
Mandira Government, the owner of Mandira’s Kitchen, a food delivery and catering company in the south-west of England, describes that labor shortage As a “slow death” for his business of six years.
“It’s been an absolute nightmare… [we’re] Literally down on our knees because we just can’t find employees,” she told CNN Business.
The yawning labor gap in industries limits the ability of businesses to grow and is causing some companies to cut services. Last week, Gatwick, an airport south of London, said it would cut its summer schedule in July and August by up to 13% because it could not find enough staff.
airline industry Job cuts during pandemic As travel demand has dwindled, and passenger numbers have struggled to hire and train enough workers to cope with a strong rebound in recent months.
Easyjet
(ESYJY)The airline, a budget airline, said on Monday it would reduce its summer schedule to about 90% of 2019 levels due to disruptions at Gatwick.
But it’s not just the pandemic hangover. Brexit has ended the free movement of labor between the United Kingdom and Europe, making it very difficult for British employers to tap a vast source of workers.
The government says it needs to hire two people to work full time in its kitchen, and blames the twins. impact of Brexit And the pandemic to keep workers away.
The staff crunch has forced it to turn customers away, so much so that the government expects its revenue this year to be 40% less than in 2021.
“All the Eastern European people, all the people we had, who used to work for the hospitality industry, have disappeared [during the pandemic]Except for this huge, big gaping hole,” she said.
Labor shortage in the UK is one of the world’s most prosperous economies.
According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the United Kingdom was the only country in the “Group of Seven” in which the share of working-age people in the labor force fell between 2020 and 2021.
The OECD also predicted that The UK economy will stabilize in 2023 – further separating it from the G7 economies, all of which are expected to grow.
The Learning and Work Institute, a think tank, calculates that around one million Britons are “missing” from the workforce. Its CEO, Stephen Evans, told CNN Business that the country “became relatively well off the storm in terms of employment at the start of the pandemic, thanks to the furlough scheme and other support.”
“But since then we have seen this drift from the labor market,” he said.
Evans said the bulk of that million is explained by workers over the age of 50 and people with long-term health problems. Work. About a third can be attributed to low population growth – which includes low net migration – and about a fifth is carried out by longer-lived youth in full-time education.
While UK unemployment has returned to its pre-pandemic level, which stood at 3.8%, the measure only captures the number of people actively working. Government policy has focused on reducing this figure, Evans said, but must now restart those who have completely put out of work.
Tony Wilson, director of the Institute for Employment Studies, told CNN Business that why comparable economies have not seen a similar exodus of workers is not yet clear.
,[The UK is] One of the very few countries in the world that has seen what looks like a very structural change in participation,” he said.
Wilson estimates UK pension independence – workers able to draw on retirement savings from age 55 Could be a factor.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies found that retirees aged 50 to 69 were the main driver behind the increase in economic inactivity, contributing two-thirds of the increase over the past two years.
There is a growing number of people leaving the labor force, especially because of illness, Wilson said. Whatever the reason, the trend is showing no signs of improving.
“It’s really very serious,” he said.
There used to be a ready pool of workers at the door of the United Kingdom, but now it is much harder for European workers to pass through the door.
“High labor market migration from Europe has helped smooth out” [worker shortages] In the past … he no longer exists,” Wilson said.
Ed Thaw, director of Leroy, A London restaurant with a Michelin star describes Brexit and the pandemic as a “devastating double whammy” for its business.
He told CNN Business that hiring from the continent next door is no longer a realistic option.
“It looks like the European pool is really gone,” he said.
From January 2021, all EU citizens seeking work will have to go through the same Points-Based Immigration Process as other nationalities. According to official figures, there were around 211,000 fewer EU citizens working in the UK between January and March compared to the same period in 2020, while the number of non-EU workers increased by 182,000.
The elderly care sector, which has long been plagued by staffing shortages, has been particularly hard hit.
Dr Sanjeev Kanoria, cofounder and owner of Edwinia Health Care, one of the country’s largest care home providers, told CNN Business that the pandemic obscured the “real impact” of Brexit on his industry.
Kanoria, which employs around 3,000 people in 37 households, said they have at least 10% of the posts vacant at any given time.
This year, he is expected to pay around £10 million ($12 million) to recruitment agencies To find employees—both permanent and temporary—more than three times what they typically spend.
People from Eastern Europe traditionally made up about one-fifth of its staffing pool.
“It’s really shrunk, down to about 0% now… we don’t have anyone coming in from Europe anymore,” he said.
A government spokesman told CNN Business it had “made significant improvements”. [its] Employer sponsorship plan, which includes reducing the time it takes to recruit overseas.
“That being said, employers should look to the domestic labor market rather than relying on labor from overseas by investing in the UK through training, wage increases and career options,” the spokesperson said.
rising prices are also Keeping Britons away from jobs in low-paying sectors.
Nadra Ahmed, executive president of the National Care Association, which represents nearly 800 care home providers, told CNN Business that higher fuel costs are “beginning to bite” for carers traveling for work.
“The impact of the subsistence crisis is starting to show and people have to look to other roles where they can get better pay,” Ahmed said.
According to the charity Skills for Care, the average hourly wage for a private care worker for the 2020-21 financial year was £9 ($11).
Despite rising wages, average wages in the economy fell 2.2% year-on-year between February and April when adjusted for inflation. According to the ONS, this is the biggest drop in more than a decade.
The Bank of England has warned employees against demanding higher wages to further reduce inflation. The central bank has hiked rates five times since December to rein in prices.
Thaw said it was difficult for job seekers to recruit in a “buyer market.” He tries, unsuccessfully, to find one new cook after another, who he left before he even started. At the same time, their input cost has also increased.
“It’s basically hindering any kind of growth that we can expect,” he said.