Veolia lures HGV drivers with £1,500 sign-on bonus as shortage swells to 100,000
French multinational Veolia told City PM this afternoon it is offering a £1,500 bonus for HGV drivers to join its waste collection operations across London.
The move comes as businesses across the country are experiencing a drop in trained HGV drivers due to a combination of factors from Brexit, Covid-19 and a testing backlog.
The Road Haulage Association (RHA) was predicting a shortage of about 60,000 drivers pre-pandemic but they now estimate this to be over 100,000 across the UK.
In recycling and waste, Veolia is reporting an average of 15 per cent vacancy rates for driving roles and it is proving “very challenging” to fill this resourcing gap given the dynamics of this labour market, according to Beth Whittaker, chief human resources officer at Veolia UK & Ireland.
“We hope the incentive will encourage drivers to consider working with us. People that I speak to in our business are passionate about what they do because our roles are different,” he added.