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!

This in spades. It wasn’t just the perceived people in the service I distrust we asked to leave/made not welcome. It was every walk of life and every job.

One generation ago (my parents) my mother stayed at home, my father worked (not well paid) a job for life with a very good pension and they could easily afford their house, their bills, savings, pension and a car. He was able to retire just before his 60th birthday. No money issues whatsoever. They have never needed a credit card or a loan.

Fast forward to just one generation, most people simply could not get by on one salary. Jobs are not secure. Pensions are precarious, and often a luxury. Savings are not possible and they are just about getting by.

We need some kind of correction, because the quality of life is going backwards as a rate of knots, many older people are sitting on the wealth in this country. The triple lock pension is alive and well even for those sitting in well heated country houses, but we have young families sitting in cold houses and using foodbanks. Something has gone very badly wrong I would say.

If you actually read the thread you’re commenting on, there are shortages in a wide range of areas:

GPs
Skilled and trained healthcare professionals
Teachers
Accountants
Auditors
Tax specialists
Vets
Pharmacists
Skilled tradespeople

to name just a few I have spotted. What do you think is the likelihood that there are 1.2 million of those highly trained professionals, with up to date professional registrations and CPD, languishing on benefits, ready to leap in and fill the gaps left by retirees and the vast numbers of workers who have been forced to move to EU countries by Brexit?

I think they'd do better to offer at least partial contractual wfh options where the role allows it, set hours in advance rather than expecting full availability over the whole week and things like that, rather than ballpits.

The expectation that employees were available 24/7 started with the zero hours contracts. Basically giving the green light to employers to ask anything and everything to their employees with no regards to them as people.

Conservatives are paying for their reckless attitude towards human beings.

Someone commented that chefs wages were rising, and rightly so they have been under paid for years. Pay people a decent wage, give them fixed hours

But this costs money that will be passed onto the diners, high wage economy means higher prices, so in reality your high wage is back to average.

And somehow @MrsRobinsonsHandprints others countries have managed to not have a crazy inflation, develop their economy etc… whilst still offering all that their employees.

Yes it feels hard to get back to that sort attitude for employers. And yes they will a(e to adjust too. But 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

This. Almost word for word except I’m not in a wheelchair I’m visually impaired.

And the irony is that when I did go to the job centre the woman looked at me and said “and you want to work? Why?”

I think there are absolutely some people who won’t work. And know people who could do certain jobs but won’t even apply because they believe those jobs are beneath them.

But that doesn’t mean everyone who is not working is a workshy scrounger.

I’m actually about to participate in a radio documentary wrt the increase in people with disabilities being refused or having jobs withdrawn because of their disability. Because trust me it’s an increasing phenomenon.

And like PP, there are jobs I absolutely should have been interviewed for under the two tick scheme but wasn’t.

I am a police officer. We have a massive retention issue. It's a lot of paperwork, lots of public negativity and - the most important- no pay rises. Especially compared to TFL and rail companies, where they demand massive pay rises in line with inflation, and if they don't get it - they strike. And then get it. No wonder why people are leaving.

The travel industry has agreat deal of explaining to do.

The new weeks ago that they were unable to cope with the extra volumes anyone that had to work out staff rotas is aware that is a nightmare of a job and a week or when people are the airport is shameful and disgraceful. I listened to LBC yestrday afternoon and there was only person who was trying to speak for the industry. All the other players that had taken peoples hard earned cash were no where to be seen .... big surprise.

I suspect that many out of the many new employees taken on in recent months they have elected to have this week off saying it was already booked hence all the issues with the last 2 weeks or so.

As someone said yesterday you simply can not shut down travel for months and expect it all to start again without all the shortfalls.

Then to get the Police to read statements on behalf of the companies is a total waste of resources.

Perhaps its time to do whatb they have done in Scotland for a very long number of years stagger the holidays weeks fortnights over a period of 6 weeks always worked there albeit a smaller country.

Which high wage economy are you referring to?

My solutions would be:

NHS is only free for emergencies and those under eighteens only. Everyone else pays for their healthcare from a range of schemes run in a similar way to private schemes. Sorry but we can not fund the NHS for much longer as it stands.

Every child is offered a student place, education, training or an apprenticeship one of these must be chosen. Claiming benefits is not a possibility

Retraining schemes should be free of charge and available to everyone

Basic rights must be strengthened to include more breaks, rest periods, days off for MH etc etc so people feel cared for within their work places.

Companies must offer a percentage of hours within school hours and to the over 55s, and should be able to prove they are also accessible to those that have disabilities. A diverse work force should be every companies aim

More housing is desperately needed, and for those working perhaps a lottery every week run by the government that you can win a house for free - incentivising work

If you have more than two spare bedrooms that are not being used, there should be additional fees to pay on your council tax, this could then be used to help support job seekers find work they are able to realistically do

Job seekers are allocated work unless they can find something they are happy to do within three months of signing on that is mandatory.

lame because capitalism works on a pyramid system. I don't agree with it but the increase cost of staffing will be passed on to the consumer.

If the government explained this is part of the plan to move to a high way economy and there would be some pain along the way, fair enough. But there is no plan! It’s a shambles and we are losing productivity as a country. Such a waste of talent and resources when you have people moving jobs every 5 minutes to get high wages/ better conditions. It’s so short sighted.

*high wage

Vet shortage? Well there are millions of new dogs and cats since lockdown. Stands to reason there's a shortage of vets.
Once this recession bites I would think people will be counting every penny and there will be less demand for builders, restaurant staf etc etc etc

We have a useless government that dragged the NHS to its knees before Covid and shot the economy in its foot with Brexit. Despite this the British public has elected them back into power for over 12 years. This is entirely our fault

I know of a vet - friend of DSis - who had enough and has recently re qualified as a train driver.

Sorry but we can not fund the NHS for much longer as it stands.

Probably not, but the better course of action would be to commission a working party to look at various models from other countries to see what works, and then decide what we want to afford. Instead we are getting a US style of healthcare by stealth, which few of us want.

I've highlighted the want to afford, because if the political will was there the money could be found. Johson's chums have done very nicely from the magic money tree over the past couple of years.

All of our GPs have moved to part time and now work in a secondary lucrative line in private work. Some of this is opportunism.
My consultant of 15 years used to offer three days (NHS) and now only offers one because he can be paid five times more, work less hours in a low stress environment.
Accountants etc we have no shortage of where we live taran additionally teachers have been unhappy since time began with their work, no change there for decades.

😂😂😂 please go outside and touch grass, mate. You are making up lies on the internet for what?

What is annoying is it seems no one in Gov/ civil service/ education kept any tabs on number of vets/ nurses teachers dvlavstaff, tax experts etc etc etc that we have or might need in the future.
Who pays for the ONS because they might be turning out stats but no one is using them or probably it's the wrong stats