Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

CoronavirusLatest NewsSkills shortagesTemporary employment

Shortfall in ‘last mile’ delivery drivers as pre-Covid jobs return

by Adam McCulloch 30 Jul 2021
by Adam McCulloch 30 Jul 2021 Photo: ESB Professional/Shutterstock
Photo: ESB Professional/Shutterstock

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%.

Skills shortages

Extension of drivers’ hours faces backlash

Supermarkets use bonuses and pay rises to tackle lorry driver shortage

How to manage returning to the workplace as coronavirus restrictions are lifted

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.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

“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.”

Latest HR job opportunities on Personnel Today


Browse more human resources jobs

Adam McCulloch

Adam McCulloch first worked for Personnel Today magazine in the early 1990s as a sub editor. He rejoined Personnel Today as a writer in 2017, covering all aspects of HR but with a special interest in diversity, social mobility and industrial relations. He has ventured beyond the HR realm to work as a freelance writer and production editor in sectors including travel (The Guardian), aviation (Flight International), agriculture (Farmers' Weekly), music (Jazzwise), theatre (The Stage) and social work (Community Care). He is also the author of KentWalksNearLondon. Adam first became interested in industrial relations after witnessing an exchange between Arthur Scargill and National Coal Board chairman Ian McGregor in 1984, while working as a temp in facilities at the NCB, carrying extra chairs into a conference room!

previous post
Finance regulator proposes diversity benchmarks for City boards
next post
Employers should urge workers to take time off, says Acas

You may also like

Steep reduction in recruitment in June

14 Jul 2025

Pensions regulator: make sure summer staff don’t miss...

18 Jun 2025

Redundancies boost candidate availability at fastest pace since...

13 Jun 2025

Recruitment outlook improves, despite employment law fears

29 May 2025

Employment Rights Bill: Agency workers and zero-hours contracts...

5 Mar 2025

Liz Kendall: some on benefits are ‘taking the...

7 Feb 2025

ONS to hire temporary staff to improve Labour...

24 Jan 2025

Recruiting seasonal workers: what does the future hold?

20 Jan 2025

What the Employment Rights Bill means for recruiting...

13 Dec 2024

Recruitment remains healthy despite fall in postings, says...

13 Dec 2024

  • Empower and engage for the future: A revolution in talent development (webinar) WEBINAR | As organisations strive...Read more
  • Empowering working parents and productivity during the summer holidays SPONSORED | Businesses play a...Read more
  • AI is here. Your workforce should be ready. SPONSORED | From content creation...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+