Operators should look to the hospitality sector for younger coach drivers, a Director of People 1st has said.
Martin-Christian Kent, Executive Director, talked about the changing labour pool at the CPT’s Coaching Conference. He said that demographic changes mean there will be 700,000 fewer 16-25-year-olds and 3.7m more over-50s in 2022, and a smaller migrant worker pool to recruit from.
He advised operators to recruit people for their attitude, and ask themselves which characteristics they want their drivers to have, and how they should relate to their clients – then target other industries with those skillsets, via online forums used by those sectors, dedicated jobsites, and LinkedIn.
For example, he suggested that translators – whose jobs are being made obsolete by modern technology – could be targeted for their language and people skills.
He also suggested that young people who train as chefs are used to working 60-80 hours a week, but “very few” of those students stay in the industry.
Mr Kent pointed out that the coach industry retains staff “much better” than most sectors, and that the positive factors are worth focusing on when recruiting.
