The cupboard is more than bare, its missing.
I was speaking to an agency bod a few months ago and he said drivers were hard to get and hgv fitters/techs/mechs impossible.
Money still isnt as good as it should be, but 45/50 hours a week will get a tidy hgv tech 50k per year without to much effort Im talking down South.
We had a new one start recently, he reckoned he went to two different job interviews each day for a week and at the end of each interview got offered every single job, which kind of tells you all you need to know about the shortage of mechanics.
Sadly this also means that muppets get taken on simply as they need the manpower.
There are 20 of us at our place and I can say hand on heart if we were all laid off on a Monday each and every one of us would have a job the next day, two days at the worst, a few with their fingers on the pulse would have a job before they left the gate! it might not be the job you want but it will pay the bills until you can find better.