Spain Wants to Hire More Foreign Drivers Amid Ongoing Labour Shortage

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Spain is currently dealing with a significant worker shortage in the transport sector.
• To remedy the situation, some ministries have decided to work together on facilitating immigration rules for foreign workers.
• Around 20 per cent of transport companies are in need of professional truck drivers.

Spain is currently facing labour shortages in the transport sector and is actively seeking additional foreign drivers to address this issue.

However, some bureaucratic procedures for the employment of foreigners still remain, and for this reason, the government is expected to make some changes to its current rules so that it can hire more foreign drivers.

As data show, the number of transport companies is on the rise in Spain but due to the need for more professional drivers, the companies are often facing obstacles related to the transport of their products.

In order to help the country with the shortage in the transport sector, the Spanish ministries of Social Security, Transport, and Interior have decided to work together on facilitating the current rules for foreign drivers, Diariov de Transporte explains.

According to the latter, the ministries want more companies to hire non-EU drivers. They have suggested that more foreign drivers be brought to the country or regularise immigrants who are already in Spain and permit them to work.

It has been suggested that the rules for the recognition of driver’s licences for foreign drivers be facilitated to as this procedure can take up to eight months.

Several companies have already expressed their concern about the lack of professional truck drivers, stressing that this can significantly impact them in the future and prevent the normal transport of products.

Data show that around 20 per cent of companies in the transport sector are in need of drivers. Moreover, it has been revealed that the total number of drivers needed in the sector can reach up to 15,000.

While the ministries have already agreed to take measures and help the sector deal with the ongoing challenges, they have not come out with an official statement yet regarding the measures they plan on taking.

However, taking into account the high number of foreign drivers, it is expected that the measures will be facilitated to some extent and more non-EU workers will be able to enter Spain for purposes in the future without having to undergo strict rules.

Those who are already in the country are expected to be permitted to enter the labour market more easily too.

According to the Spanish government, a total of 2,683,504 foreign workers across all sectors were registered in the country at the end of October. The majority of employed workers were from Morocco, Colombia, and Venezuela.