Fighting over the unemployed

A Danish truck with Polish number plates passes the Tivoli Gardens in the heart of the Danish capital Copenhagen. It's not an unusual sight, and it's becoming increasingly common. Fewer and fewer trucks now have Danish number plates. Transport is one sector, along with trade, social services and health, struggling to attract manpower.

Employers now must find new ways to attract and keep manpower, according to many in the transport sector. It is important to emphasise the human aspects of drivers. You can no longer treat them as simple labour. Another challenge for the employers is the growing demand for specialised skills for anyone wanting to drive a truck. 

Record-low unemployment 

Denmark now has some 113,000 full-time unemployed. 90,000 are members of unemployment insurance funds, the remainder draw unemployment benefits. Unemployment numbers have not been this low since the 1960s, but there are still people who cannot find work, says Torben D. Jensen, secretarial manager at the Association of Unemployment Insurance Funds.

“We've just been working very closely with the transport sector, together with both employers and the United Federation of Danish Workers (3F), in order to get unemployed back to work. We have organised focus meetings amongst other things, and we know that we need completely new approaches to achieve our goals.

“But we cannot agree on how many jobs there are. We recently concluded there are some 1,500 unemployed drivers in Denmark. The transport industry says there are some 5,000 jobs, but we've only managed to find around 250 real job ads.”

In other words, there's a gap between what employers say, and the actual number of jobs being advertised. Employers say they would be able to expand if there were more drivers. Haulage contractors also want to employ people they know, to drive their large and expensive vehicles.

“It's crucial for the unemployed to have a real job they can apply for. They are also often turned away when employers see they have a foreign name”, says Torben D. Jensen. 

Keeping the drivers 

Erik Østergaard is managing director at the employer's organisation Danish Transport and Logistics. According to him, there was a shortage of 4 - 5,000 drivers in Denmark last year.

“We have an increase in goods, more traffic congestion, while the strict regulation of the transport sector lowers productivity – and this increases the need for drivers.”

He says drivers are often aged between 30 and 49, and lack the education needed to provide them with the right skills. This is a problem, as new trucks often come with a lot of complicated IT equipment which the driver must operate - the driver must be literate. At the same time, many of the older drivers choose to retire early. They draw an early retirement pension at 60, rather than working until they're 67.

A new articulated lorry is being introduced into Denmark, which can haul 50 per cent more goods than an ordinary truck. This could reduce the need for drivers. More foreign drivers are hired, and competition from foreign haulage firms is increasing. That's why fewer Danish trucks roll across Danish borders.

“Our task is to both attract new drivers, and to keep hold of them. It used to be enough to give them basic things like wages, food, rest and safety. Now we have to make the trucks appealing places to work.

“Drivers must be able to get training and to develop as part of their career - they might want to become haulage contractors. And it's important to take their family life into consideration. We must also focus much more on attracting people with different ethnic backgrounds”, says Erik Østergaard. 

Mapping skills 

Eva Berthou is deputy leader of the 3F-affiliated trade union The Copenhagen Drivers. She says those with different ethnic backgrounds do indeed have problems.

“Nearly half of our members are non-ethnic Danes, and a lot of them are turned down for jobs. Employers might be worried they cannot read properly, that goods are delivered to the wrong address, and so on.”

The union lists some 200 unemployed members, of which 50 - 60 can no longer drive because of bad health and/or because they've lost their licence. There are no unemployed members within export and tourism. The around 140 remaining drivers with no work often lack the skills that employers demand before they're allowed to drive new trucks with modern IT equipment.

“In December 2006 we started mapping the skills of all of our unemployed members, in order to find out what their skills were, and what they whished to do. We even contacted 50 - 60 cargo transport firms to offer them drivers. We only received six replies, and there were only five drivers' jobs.”

“Bus drivers' salaries are low, and they sometimes have to work five - six hours without a break because of heavy traffic. So if they can get a better job - for instance in construction - they'll take it”,says Eva Berthou. 

New and positive experiences 

The bus company Arriva Scandinavia has experienced serious recruiting problems at their Nordsjælland branch. Torben Topp is Arriva Scandinavia's head of quality:

“We have very few young drivers, and the older ones retire early - so we're struggling to maintain a steady work force. Young people with families have problems balancing work and looking after small children, so they find different jobs.

“We once tried big advertisements, we have tried the trade union and job centres, and we have offered money prizes in order to get drivers, but with no result.”

In the autumn of 2006, Arriva chose a completely different approach. They asked the Education Centre for Public Transport if they could train new drivers for them. That way they were able to make sure the people they were training really wanted to become bus drivers. Would-be drivers must attend a set number of lectures, have no criminal record and must speak Danish at a reasonable level. Arriva has also employed part-time drivers. And they've established what is needed to keep people in their jobs as drivers:

• Greater support for the drivers. The drivers must be given more control over their working day.
• Better communication. Social support for drivers and their families.
• The opportunity for part-time workers to retire early (in cooperation with local authorities and trade unions).
• The opportunity of reduced hours, enabling older workers to join “the third age”
• Better training for middle management, with focus on human aspects of work

“There's no more being shouted at and having to follow orders! We simply need to work a lot harder to improve the image of being a driver”, says Torben Topp. 

Swedes in Copenhagen 

The Danish Bus and Coach Owners' Association have been looking across the waters of Øresund into Sweden in order to recruit drivers for buses in Greater Copenhagen, says managing director Michael Brandt-Nielsen.

“There is some unemployment in the south of Sweden, because they have long terms of notice and are weary of employing people as a result. We don't have this in Denmark, so we have no problem employing people on a permanent basis.

“We have created a good dialogue with the Southern Swedish employment services, who organise meetings for the unemployed. There they'll learn about the geography of Copenhagen, the ticketing system and some traffic related Danish. We have 30 – 40 Swedish employees, and 25 per cent of them are of non-Scandinavian decent”, says Michael Brandt-Nielsen.