SEPTEMBER 2021
A continual supply of new repaired wooden pallets is vital to the supply of categories such as food, drink, and pharmaceuticals, including Covid vaccines.
The pallet and packaging sector employs workers from EU sources including Latvia, Poland and Romania. Since the conclusion of Brexit on January 1, availability from these countries has decreased dramatically, which, added to staff shortages caused by COVID, is having a serious impact on the industry’s production and repair capacity.
Dye called for the government to urgently roll out a solution like the Seasonal Workers scheme, which allows the horticultural sector to recruit from overseas on a temporary but regular basis. The wooden packaging and pallet industry is a significant employer, which is crucial to the UK sawmill industry and forestry sector as a market for timber produced from small logs and falling boards from larger logs.
“It is really frustrating that, despite the recognition of the wooden pallet and packaging sector’s essential role in keeping supply chains moving, there is no assistance for us in recruiting staff during this difficult time,” said Dye. “We are calling on the government to review this situation as a matter of urgency and roll out a similar scheme to the Seasonal Workers programme. Without this, this situation will become more serious, particularly in the run-up to Christmas.”
In related news, Reuters is reporting that UK warehouses have had to raise wages by as much as "30% more to recruit staff after a chronic shortage of workers exacerbated pressure on already buckling supply chains and threatened to derail the run up to Black Friday and Christmas."
A trade association and a placement agency said the sector has struggled to replace the European staff who, prior to Brexit, used to arrive for the festive period and work in warehouses and distribution centers.