BUSINESSES have been told to prioritise hiring UK-based workers rather than relying on labour from abroad to fix a shortage of lorry drivers reports the BBC.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng rejected calls from firms to loosen immigration rules, saying it would be a “short-term temporary solution”.
Companies should look to those facing an “uncertain future” when the furlough scheme ends next month, he said.
A growing number of firms have said the issue has led to product shortages.
Last weekend trade bodies the British Retail Consortium and Logistics UK, which represents the freight sector wrote to the government warning the shortfall of drivers was “placing increasingly unsustainable pressure on retailers and their supply chains”.
A combination of Covid, post-Brexit immigration rules and other factors has meant there are not enough drivers to meet demand, with the shortages affecting well-known brands such as Nando’s and McDonald’s, as well as supermarkets.
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