Despite increasing demand, the number of people taking temporary delivery driver jobs has fallen by a quarter as workers return to jobs they held before Covid struck.
New data from temporary work website Indeed Flex shows that demand for drivers has risen by 16% over the past two months as the delivery sector deals with “pingdemic” staff shortages and some drivers have chosen to resume work in different sectors now reopening such as hospitality, retail and the arts.
According to Indeed Flex the number of temporary drivers available for work in June was 29% down on the March level. Over the same period the number of deliver shifts needing to be filled rose by 16%.
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Earlier this week news emerged that there was a shortage of 100,000 HGV drivers, according to the Road Haulage Association, caused by an exodus of European drivers after Brexit and by drivers having to isolate at home. Indeed Flex’s figures apply to “last mile” delivery drivers – demand for whom remains high, with the UK public still purchasing a quarter of their retail needs online, up from a fifth before the pandemic.
The data collected by the website indicates that Edinburgh is the city where demand for drivers is highest. Driver numbers in the Scottish capital fell by 54% between March and June while the total of available shifts posted by employers increased by 131%.
In London, the number of available drivers declined by 14% while shifts were up 53%.
Conversely, firms in the Midlands are finding drivers easier to secure with the number of available drivers rising 38%.
Jack Beaman, CEO and co-founder of Indeed Flex, said that as lockdown restrictions ease, many of the temporary drivers who had filled such a vital role in the worst of the pandemic were “boomeranging back to their old jobs”.
He added: “The trend is happening at the worst possible time for logistics businesses who are simultaneously grappling with the post-Brexit shortage of drivers and a ‘pingdemic’ which is forcing many staff to stay off work to isolate at home.
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“The news is better for those looking for temporary work as a driver. They’re in the driving seat like never before; as flexible workers with an in-demand skill, they can pick and choose the shifts that suit them best.”
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