"Overstretched" Britain rushed to recruit butchers from abroad

Source: Xinhua Net

UK Pig Farm (Visual China Infographic)

The British government announced on the 14th that it will issue 800 six-month emergency visas to recruit butchers from abroad to help domestic meat processors increase the slaughter of pigs and alleviate the "pig overcrowding" situation caused by labor shortages.

"The hog processing industry has faced unique pressures in recent months," George Eustis, UK Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, told reporters: "We will allow the temporary entry of butchers from slaughterhouses and meat processing plants handling pigs for up to 6 months under the 'Seasonal Workers' scheme." ”

The National Association of Pork Producers said that Brexit and the new crown epidemic led to the loss of Workers in Europe, and the national backlog of pigs to be slaughtered was about 120,000. Some farms are "overcrowded" and fear violating laws restricting breeding density and have to slaughter longer and fatter pigs.

Eustis said "emptying" the current domestic backlog of pigs to be slaughtered would require about 800 butchers to be recruited from abroad. He believes that temporary visas can help solve the problem, but it is not a long-term solution, and companies should strengthen the training of domestic workers instead of relying on foreign labor.

Tom Bradshaw, vice president of the National Farmers' Federation, believes the government's response is "right" and that it is crucial for foreign butchers to come to the UK as soon as possible.

There is a severe shortage of labour in a number of industries in the UK. Fuel was sold out at petrol stations in major cities across the UK due to insufficient truck drivers, and some shelves in supermarkets were empty but could not be replenished.

The British government announced last month that it would introduce about 5,000 truck drivers in October on a three-month visa basis and issue an additional 5,500 visas to workers in the poultry industry to alleviate the "labor shortage".

According to the Associated Press, the UK faces a shortage of labor and supply chain problems, partly due to the new crown epidemic and the UK's "Brexit". The days when EU citizens can live and work in the UK without a visa are gone.

However, the British government blames the "labor shortage" more on the epidemic than on "Brexit". Eustis said the loss of workers in the hog processing industry "because many European workers left during the pandemic and had nothing to do with Brexit". (Chen Dan)