A Hungarian trucking company recently caught the attention of the transportation industry when it advertised on a Hungarian recruitment portal for Hindi-speaking employees.
Transport trade website Trans.Info has confirmed that Budapest-based Waberer’s International Nyrt, one of Europe’s largest trucking companies, has already advertised a job for a Hindi-speaking fleet operator. It has also been learned that the company plans to hire 79 drivers and 3 fleet operators from India in the near future. The first 19 drivers could arrive as early as next week.
Drivers are being sought to cover deliveries in the UK. They will have to undergo training and pass a test before driving in Europe. Before being sent to the UK, they will receive additional training with the company in Hungary.
According to Trans.Info, Waberer’s International Nyrt magazine. It has long employed non-Hungarian drivers, although most come from neighboring Romania and Ukraine. Western European-based trucking companies in countries such as the Netherlands and France, as well as the United Kingdom, have been hiring drivers from Asia and Africa for years, according to Trans.Info. However, hiring from outside the continent by carriers based in Central Europe is a new phenomenon, and Wagerner’s is not the first company to plan to do so. Trans.Info reported in November 2021 that logistics company Cargo GO planned to bring in hundreds of experienced drivers from Asian countries in the coming years.
Europe has a general shortage of truck drivers. According to Transport Information, the continent lacks up to 400,000 drivers, with truck drivers retiring and fewer young people interested in pursuing the profession. Within the EU, the ease of cross-border recruitment is helping to offset the driver shortage, but Brexit has caused supply chain issues in the UK as it has become more difficult for international divers to enter the country.
Trans.Info speculates that Waberer’s choice to hire drivers from outside Europe could simply be due to a driver shortage caused by various factors, or it could represent a new business model for the company.
