UK facing staffing crisis of essential workers due to rising cost of living, warns Unison

The UK faces a staffing crisis in the public sector the union warned

(Picture: PA Wire)

The UK is facing a “staffing crisis” due to stagnating wages and the cost of living crisis, one of the country’s largest unions has warned.

Sara Gorton, head of health at the UK’s largest workers union, Unison, warned staff in the NHS, the civil service and schools may leave to join private firms due to low wages in the public sector.

She said: “It’s clear big-name employers who compete with the NHS for staff are acting fast.

“The health service can’t function without cleaners, porters, healthcare assistants and other low-paid workers, but no-one would blame them for taking jobs with employers willing to pay better rates.

“The Chancellor’s spring statement was silent on public sector pay, but the staffing crisis will deepen unless the Government acts swiftly with a real pay rise that leaves inflation in the shade.

“Workers will then have no choice but to go after better rates on the high street as the cost-of-living crisis continues to bite. That doesn’t bode well for patient care.”

Ms Gorton also claimed Rishi Sunak’s spring statement did not do enough to tackle public sector pay, despite record levels of inflation - which stands at 6.2 per cent-  and rising energy bills.

A report for Unison by Incomes Data Research: “In the public sector, rising inflation means that the gap between pay rises there and those in the private sector is likely to widen again.

“If the Government does not act to narrow this gap, then the NHS is likely to face many of the problems around staff recruitment, retention and morale that arose in the past.”

Unison will submit evidence to the NHS pay review body on Tuesday, and will highlight how employers such as supermarkets are offering higher wages than the lowest hourly pay in the health service.

The @OBR_UK forecasts that in 2027, average earnings will be £31,400 in today’s prices.

That is £11,000 (26%) lower than if the pre-recession trend had continued.

We are still struggling to get past 2008 levels of earnings more than a decade after the financial crisis. pic.twitter.com/5u1VB2fa0f

— Institute for Fiscal Studies (@TheIFS) March 26, 2022

Last week, the Chancellor announced his spring statement where he unveiled a rise in the National Insurance threshold from £9,568 to £12,570 a year.

Mr Sunak also announced a 5p per litre reduction for fuel costs and a cut to the basic rate of income tax from 20p to 19p from 2024.

Despite these measures, figures from the Resolution Foundation think-tank, show working-age incomes across the population by 2024 will be two per cent lower than in 2019.

The Office for Budget Responsibility, however, predicts average earnings will be £11,000 lower than pre-2008.