The John Lewis Partnership is raising the annual salaries of its lorry drivers by up to £5,000 to help with recruitment during the current shortage crisis that is disrupting industry supply chains.
The group – which operates the John Lewis and Waitrose chains – said the salary hike will start from this weekend with all its HGV drivers receiving a pay rise of around £2 an hour. The Partnership currently employs around 900 drivers with it saying the rise will ensure it can continue to recruit drivers at “market competitive rates”.
Mark Robinson, the group’s Director of Supply Chain, commented: “There’s never been a better time to get behind the wheel for Waitrose and John Lewis.
“We’re responding quickly to the national driver shortage by ensuring our drivers are paid competitively and by investing in training for the future. These changes will mean that we can continue to serve our customers well and get them the products they need.”
The move follows reports in recent days that Aldi has raised the pay for its drivers to prevent them from being poached by other firms, whilst Tesco is offering a £1,000 bonus for candidates who join its distribution fleet before 30 September. Morrisons is also setting up schemes to train existing staff to become lorry drivers, and Poundland announced today that it will offer lorry drivers a £1,000 bonus and fund training to upgrade their licences to larger vehicles.
The driver shortage has been caused by a mix of Brexit, the pandemic, and tax changes. The supply problems have been exacerbated by drivers, warehouse staff and shop workers needing to self-isolate after being notified by the NHS Covid-19 test & trace app.
As well as an isolation exemption for food industry workers, the government is seeking to relieve pressure on the HGV sector by easing driver qualification requirements and extending working hours allowances on a temporary basis. However, transport leaders have been calling for a temporary easing of immigration controls as the only way of quickly solving the problem.
Related item:
Shop owners take the wheel after UK driver shortage hits supplies – read the full article on the Financial Times website (PayWall)
NAM Implications:
- Another inflationary contributor but essential and inevitable.
- A pointer for all…
