Desperate bosses to pay new truckers £78k, veg pickers £62k and milkmen £45k amid staff shortages
COMPANIES are so desperate to lure staff amid a labour shortage they are offering salaries that are more than double the UK average for similar jobs.
Lorry drivers' wages have more than doubled to as much as £78,000-per-year under job vacancies being listed online - which put their pay on par with doctors and lawyers.
This could see a 40 hour week earning workers £62,000, reports
One courier firm, Yodel, is offering delivery jobs for salaries of up to £52,000-a-year.
Indeed recruitment agency, which is working with Gmi Distribution, lists milkmen being offered pays between £26,000 to £45,000-a-year.
Normally, the job earns then about £28,000.
Meanwhile, a firm is looking for workers to pick cabbages - for the equivalent of over £62,000-A-YEAR
T H Clements and Son Ltd’s field operatives jobs are not seasonal and are for work all year round.
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They are being advertised at £30-per-hour - which works out at £240-per-day or £1,200-per-week.
The monthly pay for a full-time gig is £4,800 and an annual salary of £62,400-a-year.
It comes amid a shortage of fruit and veg pickers due to the Covid crisis and Brexit woes.
Both have halted migrant workers from being able to travel to the UK to work.
Not enough Brits have not applied for the roles across the country forcing the pay up because demand is so high.
T H Clements and Son Ltd, based in Boston, Lincs posted one job advert that read: "We are looking for Field Operatives to harvest our Cabbages.
"Excellent piecework rates with potential to earn up to £30 per hour and all year round work available."
FAVOURITE FOOD UNDER THREAT
Robert Newbery, regional director of the National Farmers’ Union, said: "Brexit is certainly having an impact.
"The people that could move freely within Europe before now can't."
It comes amid growing fears that Brits could run out of their favourite groceries and dinner choices.
The Government is considering temporary measures to tackle the shortage of HGV drivers which is wreaking havoc on a number of UK industries.
No 10 insisted on Friday night that any measures introduced would be "very strictly time-limited" amid reports that Boris Johnson had allowed ministers to relax UK immigration rules to allow more foreign drivers into the country.
And although Downing Street would not confirm whether any decisions had been made, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps earlier promised to "move heaven and earth" to get the situation solved.
VISA RULES TO BE RELAXED
The Financial Times and the Telegraph reported that the Prime Minister had given ministers the go-ahead to temporarily lift visa restrictions for foreign drivers.
The newspapers said up to 5,000 temporary visas could be granted for HGV drivers, while the Financial Times said a similar number would be approved for food processing workers, especially in the poultry industry.
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It comes as the CBI called for ministers to establish a task force on the same level as the Cobra emergency committee to deal with supply issues which have been petrol forecourts close and empty shelves in supermarkets.
And there have been warnings that disruption to festive preparations will be "inevitable" if progress is not made to solve the shortfall of around 90,000 lorry drivers.
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