Christmas will ‘grind to a halt’ without EU workers

The decrease in EU workers could lead to a shortage in staff at warehouses over Christmas, warned warehouse equipment supplier Pallet Trucks UK.

Md Phil Chesworth said: “The pound has fallen lower and lower against the euro and overseas workers simply don’t want to work in the UK anymore.​

“Plenty of temporary warehouse staff that are taken on for the Christmas rush are from overseas, and a lack of workers could mean that Christmas this year grinds to a halt.”​

Pallet Trucks warned that the lack of staff would mean mistakes would be more and more common, leading to angry customers and plunging profits.

Plunging profits​

“Warehouses have the chance to put a plan into action now about how they will deal with staff shortages, before their competitors do,”​ continued Chesworth.

“They could offer more benefits, extra training, or more guaranteed jobs after Christmas, but those who don’t do anything will feel the strain.”​

However, recent proposals set out in a leaked Home Office document last week​ would prevent all but the most highly-skilled workers from entering the EU, according to the FTA.

The FTA’s deputy chief executive James Hookham warned that there had already been an “exodus of existing EU drivers”, ​thanks to the uncertainty created by the Brexit vote.

“Who’s going to deliver Christmas 2019 without the EU drivers and warehouse staff?”​ said Hookham. “If we want to keep Britain trading then we need to be finding ways to solve the existing skills shortage and not exacerbating the problem. ​

‘Existing skills shortage’​

“Without these proposed restrictions there’s already an acute shortage of around 30,000 heavy goods vehicle ​[HGV] drivers​.”​

EU workers account for 13% of HGV drivers and 26% of warehouse staff in the UK.

The FTA planned to make a submission to the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) on the reliance of the UK logistics sector on EU workers. The MAC is carrying out a review commissioned by the home secretary, in order to better understand the consequences of ending migration from the EU to the UK.

Hookham added: “Whilst we support policies that are intended to make migrants and the country better off, disrupting the logistics industry would certainly have the reverse effect. ​

“Government policy needs to be more targeted and support and protect our vital industries, such as logistics, in the interests of everyone.”​

Meanwhile, the number of migrant fruit pickers working in the UK should either stay the same or increase after Brexit​, according to a new survey of voters who backed Britain’s exit from the EU.