Britain’s Freight Transport Association (FTA) says it is keen to see more flexibility incorporated into the UK government’s furloughing scheme.
“The announcement of the extension of the government’s furloughing scheme will be welcomed by logistics businesses that have been directly impacted by the shutdown of the economy, providing a longer term stability to protect their staff from redundancy,” said FTA chief executive, David Wells.
However, it is vital the option of part-time furloughing is made available to our sector now, to accommodate the gradual return of trade in all sectors.
“Demand will return to different sectors at different rates and it is unlikely to accommodate full time working right across industry – therefore, it is imperative logistics businesses be given the flexibility to scale up their workforce in increments, to manage the financial risk of bringing staff back gradually.
“Without this option, the impact on our sector is likely to be significant and that could have a considerable effect on productivity across the entire economy.”
FTA represents logistics businesses with more than seven million people directly employed in the making, selling and moving of goods.