Scheme stalls skill shortage
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• Transport firms are beginning to retrain unemployed workers in a scheme devised by the Industrial Society to counteract skill shortages.
Bristol-based Peter Lane Transport Group has taken on 15 applicants for two threemonth HGV1 driver courses to be completed in August and October. Suitable applicants will be given a job or held on file until vacancies arise.
Although the group is not facing a driver shortage now, it says suitable applicants will fill new posts which will be created with new business. "About a year ago there was a definite shortage of HGV drivers: now that has reversed and there is a slump in HGV litters," says human resources manager Peter Richards who is keen to introduce a similar scheme for fitters.
The second Peter Lane course started two weeks ago with eight trainees who will he given 20 days of training. The Industrial Society will cover subjects such as social skills, map reading, and health and safety, leaving the 10-day driver training course to Peter Lane.
"Companies using the scheme are getting staff who have already got a good understanding of the industry and the employer," says the Industrial Society's Hilary Howard. She believes that many unemployed people have previously been restricted from becoming drivers because of the cost of getting an fIGV1.
Parcel Force has also been attracted to the scheme. It has recently taken on five out of eight students from a light vehicle training course for its new Avonmouth depot. And London Buses has been trained by the Industrial Society to run its own courses.
The Industrial Society hopes to attract other transport firms to the scheme, which is aimed at inner-city residents who have been unemployed for at least six months, to retirement. "For Peter Lane alone we received 50 applications for 15 places," says Howard. "There are a lot of people in inner city areas who are interested in driving and are looking for a way of getting into such a career." she says.