North Sea fossil workers who’ve been laid off or are at risk of losing their jobs to the oil price crash may have one more option open to them, under a transition training fund deal between the UK Road Haulage Association (RHA) and the Scottish government.
The fund “will provide [Large Goods Vehicle] driver, management, and compliance-related training across the haulage sector, which will be supplemented by the RHA with industry knowledge and employment opportunities, maximizing the potential outcomes for all those who qualify,” Rigzone reports. The fund is open to employees and contractors affected by job loss in the fossil industry or its supply chain.
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“The average age of a lorry driver in Scotland is 56 years old, and recruitment levels of younger drivers are nowhere near the number needed to sustain the industry as these older workers start to retire,” the RHA said in a statement. The association estimated the UK “is 45,000 drivers short, and that unless urgently addressed, this figure could rise alarmingly to as much as 60,000.”
“I’ve been deeply concerned to see skilled, dedicated workers repeatedly refused jobs purely because their background has been in oil and gas,” said North East MSP Gillian Martin. “Nobody should be written off because of their background—and other industries won’t flourish by dismissing the talent on their doorstep.”
