Addressing the skills shortage

For a number of years industry has been concerned about the combined impact of an ageing professional HGV driver workforce and the lack of new entrants coming through

We are actively involved in addressing the skills shortage through our partnership with Think Logistics, our work at the Skills Show and more...

FTA is addressing the increasing concern surrounding skills shortages within logistics. Members have highlighted that HGV drivers and mechanics are becoming increasingly hard to recruit and the age demographic, specifically within the HGV driver population, is significantly older than the national average. As a result of these factors and the reliance on labour from the EU within various roles, the sector is facing serious labour shortages over the next five years.

There is a lack of people filling the void left by those leaving the industry. Sadly, not enough young people are considering logistics and especially HGV driving as a career option. There are several reasons for this, including: the cost of licence acquisition; lack of understanding of the sector; poor sector image; working hours; and, lack of quality driver facilities.

FTA is in its third year of sponsorship of Think Logistics, the brainchild of Steve Granite of Abbey Logistics, the volunteer-led programme, run by Career Ready, works to promote logistics careers within schools and colleges. It engages students in workshops and explains what logistics actually is.

As part of promoting logistics careers to young people, FTA has exhibited at the Skills Show, the largest careers show in the UK held at the NEC Birmingham, in 2016 and 2017. Over 80,000 students, teachers and parents visit the show. Working with partners, FTA has managed to connect with young people and their influencers using the message: ‘Be a driver, Be an engineer, Be a transport manager’. A bespoke careers brochure was developed for both years called Careers that deliver, highlighting case studies showing the careers available.