Exhibition World Issue 6 – 2021 | Page 19

Recruitment

Can we compete with the € 90,000 lorry driver ?

O ur industry , as with so many others , is dealing with a human resource issue . The interesting question is , are we handling the issue in a good and sustainable way ?

There are two key factors in our post-lockdown world – the levels of reward in a supply-reduced world and , secondly , working conditions .
The haulage industry in Europe is another industry that we all know to be suffering from a skills shortage . Here , too , pay wasn ’ t great and working conditions were unsociable . Drivers are often away from home and sleeping in the laybys of busy roads .
The haulage industry trade associations have , publicly , been very open in acknowledging the issues it faces and have been addressing them . The industry bodies have accepted that the old working practices have had a correlated effect on the relationships of lorry drivers .
The industry , led by its associations , has been seen to be caring and taking action to make changes . A milk producer and distributor , close to where I live , is advertising for lorry drivers at a base salary of more than € 90,000 . With it come working conditions that provide a cap on driving distances / numbers of nights away from home as well as better provisions for eating and overnight accommodation .
So , back to where our industry is at . There has been a confirmation , through the associations , that organisers are making provisions for higher salaries . However , that battle seems to not quite be resolved as yet . I ’ m hearing of ‘ complaints ’ from finance departments on squeezed margins and I ’ m also witnessing many examples of hiring managers trying to secure potential recruits on remunerations below the levels they are advertising the roles at . This sends out all the wrong messages ! There is a disconnect here between the thinking of the exec boards and the teams on the ground .
Then , onto the issue of working conditions . This is a tough one right now . Eighteen months of not running shows in much of the world has meant that many events have been crammed into the last four or five months of the year . In
Above : Trevor Foley
“ I ’ m witnessing many examples of hiring managers trying to secure potential recruits on remunerations below the levels they are advertising the roles at . This sends out all the wrong messages !”
a post-lockdown world where so many people have been reviewing their work / life balance , organisers are having to work their teams even harder than before the pandemic .
I ’ m already seeing companies suffering resignations at the end of show cycles where people are just not prepared to continue to work such long hours under huge pressure .
Then there ’ s the contractors . The fact that all shows are actually opening is astounding me . How our industry contractors are doing what they are doing is extraordinary . I know that many are staggering towards the festive break in Europe , but what then ? And , along the way , there are two types of organiser and venue responses to this issue – the right one and the wrong one .
The right one is to support the contractors as much as possible . Some are putting their arms around the contractor community and helping them on the show floor with their own resources . The wrong response is to believe that shouting and swearing at a contractor who has been working 18 hours a day for several weeks is a good idea . There ’ s a good analogy here in amateur junior soccer . When players and their parents shout and swear at referees , they end up without referees .
So , if pay is slowly moving in the right direction , then the working conditions need to do the same . Really , the only way to achieve this is to address the supply . This can be done but it does need co-ordination by our industry associations . I ’ m happy to help but it is going to need a concerted campaign to attract people to our industry . And that is going to need money !
The industry has previously raised monies for industry promotion campaigns , government lobbying and for charitable causes . A coordinated approach to attracting talent to our industry is achievable . But who is going to lead this ?
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