Staff shortages are now a national crisis

[Confusedofbritain]

Staff shortages across many sectors is now a national crisis surely? I’ve given up expecting anything of this government, but why isn’t Labour beating them with a stick over this?

Some examples which affect me personally….

• Can’t go on holiday due to cancelled flight, cause by lack of ground staff.
• I work for NHS trust and we have closed a ward due to c 50% vacancies. We have plenty of money but can’t spend it. Now competing with other trusts paying increasingly high golden handshakes.
• Tried to book restaurant for Tuesday birthday. Not possible as all places shut Monday and Tuesday due to short staff (esp chefs).
• Poor service when we do go out. Staff look frazzled.
• Can’t get a builder to do an extension. Often not bothering to quote. Builder friend can’t keep labourers and brickies. Paying increasingly high wages but getting poached.
• Window fitter quoted me 2x higher than 2019 (for a much smaller window!) probably because they’re so busy and can’t increase capacity due to lack of staff. So prices have gone up by 100%.
• Long delay in discharge for father from hospital, due to long waits for care package (caused by staff shortages). He was in hospital a lot longer than necessary and declined hugely as result.

It’s largely caused by Brexit, partly people retiring or changing livelihood during Covid…:.but why wasn’t this anticipated and what are we doing about it?

I want to see posters EVERYWHERE encouraging people to consider NHS careers. It’s a rewarding career, but impossible to cope and keep going with so few staff. We are escalating to NHS England constantly, saying we need a national solution. It’s beyond critical, but I’m not confident that there is a national drive to sort this out.

The economic and social consequences of ignoring this massive structural issue will be disastrous!

Yes, there's often a disconnect between what employers think they should be able to provide and what they would need to offer in order to get someone suitable. That's money, but also terms and conditions.

He'd happily do that - last time I checked, there were no jobs in our area but I will keep looking. Some years ago he did contract cleaning for one of them but they switched contractors.

Just to add (noting some of the other posts on this thread, not yours!) we get no benefits/tax credits whatsoever because I work full time and we are childfree, so this isn't a case of my husband playing the system.

Businesses have failed to train up and invest in productivity improvements for too long. This issue is on them if they cannot support decent wages the job shouldn't exist. I am not going to support increasingly immigration driving down wages of the poorest.

beatrix Have you even the faintest idea how many people have to work with severe mental health conditions? If everyone decided they couldn't work because they had poor mental health, we would literally have no one at all working in this country after the pandemic!! Working can be GOOD for poor mental health, it can give direction, purpose and hope to someone's life. It certainly kept me going in peak lockdown.

confused Yes you are right, many job centres would argue they are already providing plenty of support. You will always find the jobseekers that simply refuse to consider anything, despite being fully abled and healthy. It is these people I am thinking about and not those with serious illness or disability.

Too many, dare I say it, are just bloody work shy. Pure and simple.
We need to pull together in the next twelve months to get through this cost of living crisis, and the dead weight of the healthy unemployed needs to be removed and put to good use.

People talk of riots, but I believe the real issue is going to be the working people of this country being forced to pay for heating in those that are idly sitting at home whilst they are waking up to a 12 hour shift at 5am and can't afford to heat their own homes. Trust me, this is far more likely to cause unrest than anything else. Why should anyone work 60 hours a week, or 75 hours a week as we often do and the country be collapsing due to staff shortages whilst the bloated benefits sector that we are paying so much for remains totally indifferent and carries on regardless? How would that ever be fair?

Trust me, that is the next news story.

Lots of people are actually finding jobs when theyve been out of work for ages. That is happening but clearly isnt enough.
People are advertising more for people with disabilities and people who have had career gaps due to family reasons etc are being sought out as an untapped resource, when theyd previously have not even got past application stage, let alone interview. The staff shortage has at least stopped some of the soul crushing rejection of jobseeking as its a workers market.

Have quite a few family members self employed in trades like construction, building, plumbing; The cost of importing materials atm is high and is driving prices up.

People are advertising more for people with disabilities and people who have had career gaps due to family reasons etc are being sought out as an untapped resource, when theyd previously have not even got past application stage, let alone interview

Thank you for posting and sharing - that is a good news story we don't hear much about, that some are finding it easier to return to the work force, because obstacles are being removed. We need more of that, much more.

Is there any chance he could offer a little of it, for example state in the recruitment material that he can offer 2 days wfh and it will be in the contract? If he could do that it might attract a few more applicants. Some wfh is just the standard expectation now for computer based roles. Obviously ignore me if he's a tree surgeon or something equally location based!

We have lots of talented people in this country, with relatively low illiteracy rates and a society that is broadly and fairly well educated. It can't be THAT hard to sort this out. Maybe more training, more support, more help etc is needed to really galvanise the nation, but it starts with the individual.

There are also more people looking for work who are not on the unemployment figures like me, as I have stayed at home whilst my children were young.

I'm in a similar boat. 2 degrees, the second of which was awarded last year and lots of voluntary work. All the jobs I want (no responsibility - bar work/retail etc) don't want me. My last interview ended with them suggesting I look for something more suited to my qualifications/experience. I'd rather not work than return to my previous field of employment. Plus I have mental health issues albeit currently under control but I want them to stay that way. It's frustrating. I have family who take it personally that someone with my experience and education is not a tax payer.

We are having to work 75 hour weeks to make up for the lack of staff! That is the point, some of us are having to work even longer, and it is galling to know there are so many that could be part of the solution, but choose not to be.

The company is a dutch company - and people regularly work extremely long hours, to my knowledge this is not illegal.

This is what I was told. As I already had a CV, reasonable interview skills and the ability to fill out an application form, they couldn't help me further.

I will work for you. Send me details of your company and the current vacancies.

People are advertising more for people with disabilities and people who have had career gaps due to family reasons etc are being sought out as an untapped resource, when theyd previously have not even got past application stage, let alone interview. The staff shortage has at least stopped some of the soul crushing rejection of jobseeking as its a workers market. I’d like to see evidence of that actually being put into practice, because that’s definitely not my experience.

Employers refusing reasonable adjustments at interview stage without explanation (disability confident employer), employer refusing reasonable adjustment at interview stage with the explanation “what if the system couldn’t be made accessible, it would be unfair on a sighted person who had missed out on the job because we gave it to you and turned out you couldn’t even do it,”.

Job offer withdrawn due to inacccessibility of the system (disability confident employer,)

Access to work scheme is on the brink of collapse with people having to wait 4 times longer for asessments and many jobs being withdrawn because of it.

“We believe in equality and diversity” is just a sentence. It’s completely meaningless.

It's easy to talk about productivity improvements but not so easy to deliver them when the work involves dealing with vulnerable people who have complex issues, and when demands on services are rising more quickly than ever. People cannot simply be "processed" more quickly. Not everything can be solved with "efficiencies".

And yes, the reality will indeed be that some of the jobs will no longer exist. My organisation is actively looking at having to make cuts. That will mean cuts to services for some of the most vulnerable people in our society. The needs of those people will not go away, but they will not be met as effectively, so it will just generate more pressure on other services such as the NHS, Social Services, local councils etc. I fail to see how this helps anyone.

Something needs to be done about the cost of childcare so it’s worth parents going back to work, we’re better off by me staying home with our child than trying to find a job that works round shifts and nursery hours without paying a small fortune.
Out of work due to being made redundant during covid

not claiming any benefits either, not even child benefit

Another problem which will make the situation worse is that in Health and Social Care we have an ageing workforce, 25% of my team are over 60 - including one over 70. There are a very high number of older nurses working in care homes too. When this group retire the situation will be even worse as younger people don't want to do this sort of work.

As I already had a CV, reasonable interview skills and the ability to fill out an application form, they couldn't help me further

So what is preventing you from working? There are literally millions of jobs to choose from.

This will all get worse if they implement not allowing student finance to those who have failed maths or English GCSE- even if they go on to pass during a resit.

the poorer will get even poorer and the government are basically not allowing any way out.

Having used Polish healthcare I think the option of the cleaner is C, doesn't exist.

I agree that recruiting practices need to change. We only ask for an application form after we have had a phone call, it has resulted in better recruitment.

Shortage in trades is also due to the pressure from schools to go to university.

@Swayingpalmtrees
" 7) The social care problems have been rumbling on for decades. I am not sure why you expected your experience to be any different from anyone else's. People need to start planning for old age and taking responsibility for the costs of care. "

People can save all they like or take out insurance packages to pay for care BUT if there are not the staff to provide the care this is totally irrelevant. I have seen a lot of care staff leave my mum's care home over last two years - there were some really good workers from EU countries who have now left . And please don't suggest that this is an unskilled job that anybody who is currently unskilled can do . We shouldn't be having to put our vulnerable people into the care of people only doing the job to stop their benefits being removed .