planetrucking:
Why are all jobs I see advertised through an agency? Can’t a company recruit anymore?
Since entering this industry last year, I must say its probably the worst job move ive made. Every employer seems unprofessional. Then there is ‘experience before employment but no experience without employment’. They are desperate for drivers but won’t give anyone a chance?
Go to agency for the bottom pay & no security.
There is a certain amount of seasonal work that companies have and also a requirement to cover annual leave and sickness. There are drivers out there who only want to work part-time or only want to work part of the year. They may have another job that isn’t on all the time. They may have caring responsibilities etc. Quite often older drivers are already in receipt of one or two pensions, so they may not even need the money. Agency work also provides a way in which a new pass can build up a bit of experience with a variety of work. This kind of agency work has always been there.
An increasing phenomenon is companies running with a percentage of agency staff and drivers who want to work full-time can end up being at companies for years without getting taken on and for significantly less wages than those working directly. The Agency Worker Regulations has tried to deal with those issues with some degree of success, making it more difficult for companies to deny equal pay after 12 weeks. Things like the 28 days paid holiday coming in for all workers has also helped.
The reason you are not seeing permanent jobs advertised may simply be that companies don’t need to advertise to fill positions.