Waberer puts 79 Indian drivers behind the wheel

03-29-2022 | Written by Tim de Young

Hungarian Waberer’s has found a solution to India’s driver shortage. The company plans to deploy 79 drivers from this country to the UK.

In an ad, Waberer’s is looking for Hindi-speaking planners and a human resource manager for drivers to properly manage them. The first 19 drivers from India are now said to have arrived. They must follow a two-week course, after which they have to gain another two weeks of experience in Hungary before they can go on the road independently. Then they will be sent to England.

The Waberer had several nationalities behind the wheel, including many Romanians and Ukrainians. The latter group weakened significantly because many drivers wanted to go home to defend their country. This prompted them to the Waberer to look for more, and they ended up in India. Other large fleets are already recruiting personnel in countries such as India and even the Philippines and African countries.

Highly Skilled Immigrants

Drivers from countries outside the European Union are brought in as ‘knowledge migrants’. This is a scheme already intended for nuclear or medical specialists and the like, but some EU countries seem to think drivers are also covered. If a European country issues this work permit, it immediately applies to all EU countries. It is unclear how this has been arranged in England since Brexit, but the fact is that the Mobility Package, which regulates the obligation to return vehicles and people to the workplace, does not apply to the UK. So drivers from India could spend more time in England in response to the driver shortage. By the way, Waberer is not the only one recruiting drivers for Europe in India. It is also said that the Lithuanian Charging Go company is attracting dozens or even hundreds of Indians to spread it on European roads.

FNV is concerned

When asked, FNV’s Willem Dejkoisen is concerned about the situation of the European drivers. These types of practices should be discussed in the collective labor agreement discussions we are now entering into. Not only payment is an element, but also, for example, the educational level of non-EU drivers. ”