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Demand for logistics roles high despite the pandemic
While the unemployment rate across the UK rose to a five-year high of 5.1% in December 2020, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures, the economic pain has not been spread evenly across all sectors of the economy.
Many logistics businesses are now reporting experiencing significant issues recruiting for certain roles, including commercial drivers and mechanics.
FEWER DRIVERS CLAIMING JSA
The pool of active jobseekers from which to recruit drivers and other logistics roles is rapidly shrinking. According to the latest UK Labour Market statistics, the number of HGV drivers claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) fell to 110 in January 2021, down from 27% from a year ago, while the number of van drivers was 1,565, down 15% on the previous year.
DRIVERS AND MECHANICS HARDEST ROLES TO FILL
Logistics UK’s ninth Logistics Performance Tracker (LPT9) reveals that HGV drivers and mechanics remained the hardest roles to fill in the logistics sector, with more than two thirds of respondents reporting issues filling these vacancies.
LOGISTICS JOB ADVERTS UP BY 15%
This finding appears to be supported by the latest recruitment advertising statistics. According to ONS vacancies data for 12 February, the number of transport/logistics/warehouse online job adverts was 15% above the same period last year. This compares favourably to the average for job adverts across all sectors running at just 19% below the same period last year.
The latest employment figures released on 23 February 2021 show a continued rise in the unemployment rate, with an estimated 1.74 million people unemployed. In the last quarter of 2020 the figure rose to 5.1%, the highest in five years and up 1.3% from the previous year.
BUSINESS OUTLOOK IMPROVES
Despite the positive recruitment outlook for logistics roles, the financial health of companies that responded to the LPT9 fell slightly in February compared with December 2020, falling from 7.38 to 7.24 (on a scale from 1 to 10). However, the short-term business outlook for the next six months increased slightly to 6.64 (from 6.49) in February. Respondents reported faring relatively well financially, with larger firms and larger fleets less likely to experience poor financial health.
The Logistics UK Performance Tracker monitors the performance of the logistics industry. This ninth survey in the series (LPT9) was conducted between 10-23 February 2021. There were around 170 respondents spanning over 18 sectors in the UK.
*www.logistics.org.uk/lpt
Published On: 04/03/2021 17:00:23
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