Payroll Data published by Bacs Payment Schemes, an organisation which handles the clearing and settlement of automated payments, has revealed that the number of employers working in the UK's transport industry has declined in the wake of the global financial crisis.
    The UK's Transport Intelligence reported that in August 2007, some 650,205 transport, storage and communication workers were being paid salaries by Bacs. By August 2010 this number had fallen 18.9 per cent to 527,315.
    Ti's chief analyst John Manners-Bell said: "The decline in the number of directly employed workers in the UK transport industry is likely to be due to the impact of the recession and increased sub-contracting.
    "Whatever the reason, the figures show that the structure of the industry has changed radically in a relatively short period. I suggest that small- and medium-sized freight companies are adopting 'asset and employee light' models to cope with the present environment whilst others are unfortunately going out of business."
    Said the report: "Job losses cannot solely be put down to the recession. The worst annual drop, almost 10 per cent, occurred in the year up to August 2008, before the economic downturn. Figures suggest the decline in employment is not cyclical, but on a secular downwards trend."
    Another possible factor may be the increase in the number of owner-drivers employed by the industry, said the report. Self-employed workers will be paid in ways other than by formal salaried arrangements and will be lost from the Bacs data once they leave direct employment.

Source: Shipping Gazette