With the United Kingdom leaving the European Union and the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, a number of sectors of the British economy continue to experience a shortage of workers.
However, the number of vacancies on the United Kingdom decreased by 49,000 in the last quarter of 2023 (October-December 2023) compared to the previous three months (July-September). This is indicated by the latest preliminary data of the British Office for National Statistics (ONS). The supply of jobs is decreasing against the backdrop of an increase in wages and a decrease in the economic activity of companies in a number of sectors due to the increased cost of credit, but it remains above the levels before the pandemic.
In the last three months of last year, 934,000 vacancies were announced according to preliminary data. They are 133,000 more compared to the period January-March 2020, when the British economy had not yet experienced the negative effects of the pandemic.
The most sought-after workers and employees on the Island are in the health and social care sector. In it, the vacancies at the end of last year were 34,000 more than in the first three months of 2020.
And in a number of other sectors in Great Britain in October-December 2023, more workers and employees were in demand compared to the eve of the pandemic – “Hotel and restaurant industry” (23,000), “Education” (14,000), “Financial and insurance activities” (7,000).
Manufacturing is among the sectors of the UK economy with the largest number of vacancies, more than before the pandemic, with the shortage increasing by 15,000. Factory managers in the English county of East Sussex are telling thousands about the difficulties they face in recruiting workers.
Local entrepreneurs point out that among young people there is a lack of interest in professional development in the field of industry.
The operations director of a cable factory run by the Marshall-Tufflex company, Jean Carlos Diaz, notes that young people “don’t know what manufacturing is”. “It’s very difficult to hire young people here”, he points out.
His company is forced to fill the labor shortage from abroad, but expects to find the next generation of its employees in British schools as well.
“We need to attract the younger generation to take our business to the next level”, said Val Chandler. He is director of manufacturing operations at another factory in the area, owned by the electrical appliance parts company Focus SB.
For its part, the industry employers’ federation Make UK has announced that the labor shortage is costing the UK economy billions of pounds a year.
Among the sectors of the British economy, in which there were more vacancies than before the pandemic, are agriculture (23,000) and construction (9,000).
Against this background, the United Kingdom is easing the visa regime for representatives of a number of construction professions in order to attract foreign workers and employees.
Authorities in London have included a number of jobs in their list of “occupations experiencing labor shortages”. In this way, employers in the construction sector will be facilitated in hiring foreign workers and employees.
Cheaper UK visas and relaxed rules for hiring foreigners will apply to bricklayers, painters, stonemasons, carpenters, roofers, as well as specialists in the field of installation and repair of window frames.
Facilitation for hiring foreign workers and employees in construction will “contribute to the construction of key national infrastructure sites and to the development of the sectors of the economy related to this activity.” This was stated in a message issued last summer by the British Home Office and quoted by Reuters.
Foreign nationals who are employed may be paid up to 80 per cent of UK normal wages. They must have received an offer from a British employer and meet the English language proficiency requirement, the government release informed.
Food production in the UK is threatened by a shortage of workers. This is the conclusion of an independent study announced earlier. The authors of the study are calling on the British government to extend the period within which UK work visas are issued to seasonal workers. They are allowed to work in the UK for no more than 6 months without interruption.
In December 2021, rulers in London extended the program until the end of 2024, but announced that British agriculture “must limit its dependence” on foreign labour.
