Britain is facing a shortage of one million workers, in a growing crisis that would have a damaging economic effect, new figures from the Office for National Statistics have shown.
The twin shocks of the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit – the UK's departure from the EU – have resulted in labour shortages in key sectors, including meat production, catering, haulage, construction and care services.
Unless Prime Minister Boris Johnson finds a solution within the next 10 days, farmers say they will have to begin mass cull of up to 120,000 pigs because of a lack of abattoir workers.
The British Meat Processors Association estimates that there’s a shortfall of 15,000 butchers. Up to 80 per cent of employees at some meat processing centres came from Eastern Europe but many have not returned post Brexit and pandemic.
A loss of EU workers – whose free movement into Britain was ended by Brexit – has meant turkey production for Christmas has been slashed by 20 per cent.
The National Farmers' Union found that numbers of EU seasonal fruit and vegetable pickers were down by 11 per cent this year, with one farm having to let 600 tonnes of produce rot in fields.
The petrol crisis is now expected to continue potentially until December, despite 100 Army drivers being deployed this week. There is an estimated shortage of 100,000 heavy good vehicle drivers.
Declining working conditions, poor wages and long hours have seen the number of lorry drivers drop by more than 50,000 since 2016 – including 12,000 EU nationals, according to ONS figures.
With high demand for lorry drivers on Germany, France and Italy, the upmarket British supermarket Waitrose is now offering £53,780 ($72,800) a year for the job.
Supermarket staff shortages are also having a knock-on effect. While its petrol station pumps were full at a Sainsbury’s branch in Sussex, south-east England, yesterday, it was unable to open as there were not enough staff to manage queues.
Job vacancies are occurring elsewhere. The construction industry – key to economic growth – is 140,000 workers short, or 10 per cent of the total, according to The Times.
Care home workers now have to be double vaccinated but 30,000 have declined, meaning that by mid-November the workforce will lose 7 per cent of employees.
With staff numbers down by a fifth, the St Austell Brewery in Cornwall, south-west England, estimates it lost £2 million over the summer through reduced capacity.
Hotels, which relied on EU workers for 40 per cent of staff, have one in six jobs vacant, with some having to cap guest numbers.
With the furlough scheme – which supported jobs during the pandemic – ending for one million people last week, it is expected more workers will be available. But up to 500,000 over-50s have retired, and others who were furloughed have decided to take other jobs with a better work-life balance.
“There’s been a re-evaluation of life in lockdown, and a lot of people have said: ‘I quite like being at home and I might stay there’,” said restaurant chain owner Jeremy Roberts.
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Saturday (All UAE kick-off times)
Valencia v Atletico Madrid (midnight)
Mallorca v Alaves (4pm)
Barcelona v Getafe (7pm)
Villarreal v Levante (9.30pm)
Sunday
Granada v Real Volladolid (midnight)
Sevilla v Espanyol (3pm)
Leganes v Real Betis (5pm)
Eibar v Real Sociedad (7pm)
Athletic Bilbao v Osasuna (9.30pm)
Monday
Real Madrid v Celta Vigo (midnight)
What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Regional Qualifier
The top three teams progress to the Asia Qualifier
Final: UAE beat Qatar by nine wickets
Third-place play-off: Kuwait beat Saudi Arabia by five runs
Table
1 UAE 5 5 0 10
2 Qatar 5 4 1 8
3 Saudi 5 3 2 6
4 Kuwait 5 2 3 4
5 Bahrain 5 1 4 2
6 Maldives 5 0 5 0
The Lost Letters of William Woolf
Helen Cullen, Graydon House
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Rating: 2.5/5
'Morbius'
Director: Daniel Espinosa
Stars: Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Adria Arjona
Rating: 2/5
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
The Al Barzakh Festival takes place on Wednesday and Thursday at 7.30pm in the Red Theatre, NYUAD, Saadiyat Island. Tickets cost Dh105 for adults from platinumlist.net
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Drishyam 2
Directed by: Jeethu Joseph
Starring: Mohanlal, Meena, Ansiba, Murali Gopy
Rating: 4 stars
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
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GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
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TEACHERS' PAY - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Pay varies significantly depending on the school, its rating and the curriculum. Here's a rough guide as of January 2021:
- top end schools tend to pay Dh16,000-17,000 a month - plus a monthly housing allowance of up to Dh6,000. These tend to be British curriculum schools rated 'outstanding' or 'very good', followed by American schools
- average salary across curriculums and skill levels is about Dh10,000, recruiters say
- it is becoming more common for schools to provide accommodation, sometimes in an apartment block with other teachers, rather than hand teachers a cash housing allowance
- some strong performing schools have cut back on salaries since the pandemic began, sometimes offering Dh16,000 including the housing allowance, which reflects the slump in rental costs, and sheer demand for jobs
- maths and science teachers are most in demand and some schools will pay up to Dh3,000 more than other teachers in recognition of their technical skills
- at the other end of the market, teachers in some Indian schools, where fees are lower and competition among applicants is intense, can be paid as low as Dh3,000 per month
- in Indian schools, it has also become common for teachers to share residential accommodation, living in a block with colleagues
Brief scores:
Day 2
England: 277 & 19-0
West Indies: 154
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE tour of Zimbabwe
All matches in Bulawayo
Friday, Sept 26 – UAE won by 36 runs
Sunday, Sept 28 – Second ODI
Tuesday, Sept 30 – Third ODI
Thursday, Oct 2 – Fourth ODI
Sunday, Oct 5 – First T20I
Monday, Oct 6 – Second T20I
