Lidl’s boss warned that adopting a short-term visa would not solve the labor shortage in the food industry, adding that the retailer was working “harder than ever” to keep the shelves available.
Christian Härtnagel, managing director of sales at the German discount retailer in the UK, says the labor shortage is “everywhere you look at it right now”. The supermarket chain is increasing wages for its lowest-paid workers, from £9.50 to £10.10 an hour outside London and from £10.85 to £11.30 in the capital from March next year. after they fight with rivals to recruit employees.
Härtnagel, 39, says only a long-term visa policy will solve Britain’s labor shortage as the economy transforms after Brexit. “Economics are recovering globally. Why would someone give up a job to come work and they only have six months and then they’re running out of visas? “
Boris Johnson used his Conservative Party conference speech in October to urge businesses to invest in employees and said curbing low-skilled migration would eventually make the country prosperous. more prosperous. The government has issued short-term visas to truckers and poultry workers.
Lidl, which has around 880 stores in the UK, has set a new target of reaching 1,100 stores nationwide by 2025. The company employs more than 26,000 people and says expansion plans will create 4,000 jobs. . According to Kantar, the market research firm, Lidl is the seventh largest grocery chain in the UK by market share.
Härtnagel said he can’t promise that customers won’t see higher prices due to the higher staff, energy and transportation costs the business faces. However, he said that the retailer “will always offer the lowest price in the market”.
It’s hard to get delivery around Christmas, he added. A few weeks ago, he wasn’t sure if there were enough turkeys, but supplies have improved: “There’s no need to buy frozen turkeys. If you want fresh, get one.”
He added that the short-term visa helped suppliers “a bit” in terms of labor to process the turkey.
Lidl’s UK revenue grew 12% to £7.7 billion in the year to the end of February 2021. It generated a pre-tax profit of £9.8 million, up from a loss of 25.2 million table in the previous year. The company invested £498 million in its UK business in the last financial year.
Härtnagel said that while demand for online delivery has increased during the pandemic, Lidl’s store openings over the past 15 months have been “extremely successful” and demand for online grocery delivery is falling.
Lidl is owned by the German Schwarz Group, which reported 125.3 billion euros in sales in 2020. It arrived in the UK in 1994 and remains staunchly opposed to selling groceries online, causing it goes against every other food retailer – even its discount competitor. Aldi has a partnership with Deliveroo.
Lidl followed other supermarkets in December with a pledge to return £100m in business interest amid anger that taxpayer support is being used by so-called winners lock the door.
The company said its UK business was affected last year by post-Brexit customs duties and import costs, as well as increased regulation of trade in and out of the UK. Brother.
However, it said it “was able to successfully tailor its processes” to “ensure that the operational and financial impacts of Brexit risks are minimized”.
