The British food industry is asking the British government for special visas for foreigners who want to work in that industry. The industry comes through the consequences half a million people short of the corona pandemic and Brexit.
This is noticeable among pig farmers. Due to the shortage of personnel, the slaughterhouses only use 75 percent of their capacity. Farmers cannot sell pigs that are ready for slaughter. The surplus increases by 15,000 pigs every week. This entails so many costs that many pig farmers are now suffering losses.
The pig farmers’ union says that everything has been tried to find staff in their own country. For example, wages were increased, but many foreign employees left after Brexit. Many Britons don’t want to do heavy work.
“In other countries there is sufficient supply of people who want to come and work here,” the director of the union tells de BBC.
Supermarkets
The shortage of staff in the UK is also being felt in horticulture, fast food restaurants and the transport sector.
Milk producer Arla can supply less milk to supermarkets due to the shortage of drivers. Other shelves in the supermarkets also remain empty. Supermarket chains Tesco and Iceland warned this week that the problems must be resolved before supplies start before Christmas.
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