Within England,  recruitment difficulties are due to applicants lacking the necessary skills, a lack of interest in the sector and a general lack of applicants.  This reflects the experiences of English companies across all sectors.  Welsh companies in the sector also suffer the same recruitment problems as England. 

All industries in the sector face recruitment and retention issues in some form:

• the bus and coach companies report a need for drivers
• the rail industry has a shortage amongst customer service staff
• the aviation industry has difficulties retaining baggage handlers
• the taxi industry report issues in recruiting new drivers

Vacancies in the sector, recorded by Jobcentre Plus, report that:

• in Scotland 2.3% of total Scottish vacancies recorded are in the passenger transport industry
• in England 2.4% of all reported vacancies
• in Wales only 1.9% of job vacancies

In London, the East of England and the South East the proportion of total vacancies in the passenger transport sector is particularly high.  The North East has the lowest proportion of vacancies (5%).

In Wales the number of hard-to-fill vacancies (18%) is high compared with 14% for the nation as a whole.  A high proportion was also found in England where 11% of organisations reported hard-to-fill vacancies compared to 8% for all sectors.  However, in Scotland 2% of employers report hard to fill vacancies compared to 1% for all sectors.

Source: GoSkills Skills Needs Assessment (stage 1) 2006a