The British meat industry faces a severe shortage of workers

The UK MEAT industry is bracing for major disruptions to its supply chain as the government appears to be heeding warnings made by several in the industry.

“Meat industry wage rates have risen nearly 10% this year, but we still have five times as many vacancies as applicants. And this pattern is being repeated throughout the food supply chain as staff shortages reach critical levels, when food supplies are disrupted and prices have to rise,” the food and transport industry associations warn in a joint letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

"I've never heard big company executives call me and say, 'Nick, we have to do something. We have to convey to the government, to the people, that we have a few weeks left before the crisis.” I have never had this. I think we are heading for a brick wall in a car with no brakes,” said Nick Allen, chief executive of the British Meat Producers Association (BMPA), in an interview with ITV.

Leaders from a number of business groups in the food and logistics industries say there are more than 100,000 unfilled vacancies and current immigration policies are not helping fill the gap. Worse, the UK government is paying up to £3,000 to repatriate EU workers who have not applied for permanent resident status by the June 30 deadline, a measure that could exacerbate the crisis.

And this fact will be taken into account when preparing the monthly analytical report Meatinfo.ru