Research reveals scale of staffing problem across warehouse sector

Demand for warehouse workers in the UK has rocketed, with the number of online job adverts almost doubling in some areas of the country, according to research.

TOY STORY: JLM Transport has taken delivery of six more New Generation DAF XF 480 6x2 tractor units to help meet the growing needs of its biggest client, Smyths Toys. The new trucks join a mix of 12 New Generation DAF XF 480 and XG 530 tractor units that the Stoke haulier sourced from Asset Alliance last summer. All 18 vehicles – nearly half of the company’s total fleet – are supplied on three-year contract hire deals. They will mainly be used to transport products from Smyths Toys suppliers to the toy retailer’s warehouses in Stoke and Corby, and for outbound deliveries to its stores in the UK and Ireland, as well as for general haulage work.

The North East showed the biggest leap in advertising, with 1,050 ads placed in December 2022, compared to 530 in 2019: a jump of 98.1%.

Indeed Flex, the online staffing app that analysed the data, said the pattern was repeated across the UK, with employers struggling to find staff for warehouse jobs.

Scotland saw a 60% rise in job adverts at the end of 2022 compared to pre-pandemic levels and the South East had the highest overall number of vacancies, with 6,875 positions advertised online in December 2022 compared to 4,580 in December 2019.

Logistics UK has warned of a crisis in warehousing and the UK Warehousing Association’s chief executive Clare Bottle previously blamed Brexit for causing recruitment problems that were harder to resolve than in driving.