There are two key factors in our post-lockdown world – the levels of reward in a supply-reduced world and, secondly, working conditions.

The haulage industry is another industry that we all know to be suffering from a skills shortage.  Here too, pay wasn’t great and working conditions were unsociable.  Drivers are often away from home and sleeping in the laybys of busy roads.  The haulage industry trade associations have, publicly, been very open in acknowledging the issues it faces and has been addressing them.  The industry bodies have accepted that the old working practices have had a correlated effect on the relationships of lorry drivers.  The industry, led by it’s associations, has been seen to be caring and taking action to make changes.  A milk producer and distributor, close to where I live, is advertising for lorry drivers at a base salary of more than €90,000.  With it come working conditions that provide a cap on driving distances / numbers of nights away from home as well as better provisions for eating and overnight accommodation.

So, back to where our industry is at.  There has been a confirmation, through the associations, that organisers are making provisions for higher salaries.  However that battle seems to not quite be resolved as yet.  I’m hearing of ‘complaints’ from finance departments on squeezed margins and I’m also witnessing many examples of hiring managers trying to secure potential recruits on remunerations below the levels they are advertising the roles at.  This sends out all the wrong messages!  There is a disconnect here between the thinking of the exec boards and the teams on the ground.

Then, onto the issue of working conditions.  This is a tough one right now.  A near eighteen months of not running shows in much of the world, has meant that many events have been crammed into the last four or five months of the year.  In a post-lockdown world where so many people have been reviewing their work/life balance, organisers are having to work their teams even harder than before the pandemic.  I’m already seeing companies suffering resignations at the end of show cycles where people are just not prepared to continue to work such long hours under huge pressure.

Then there’s the contractors.  The fact that all shows are actually opening is astounding me.  How our industry contractors are doing what they are doing is extra-ordinary.  I know that many are staggering towards the Christmas break, but what then?  And, along the way, there are two types of organiser and venue responses to this issue – the right one and the wrong one!

The right one is to support the contractors as much as possible.  Some are putting their arms around the contractor community and helping them on the show floor with their own resources.  The wrong response is to believe that shouting and swearing at a contractor who has been working 18 hours a day for several weeks is a good idea.  There’s a good analogy here in amateur junior soccer.  When players and their parents shout and swear at referees, they end up without referees!

So, if pay is slowly moving in the right direction, then the working conditions need to do the same.  Really, the only way to achieve this is to address the supply.  This can be done but it does need co-ordination by our industry associations.  I’m happy to help but it is going to need a concerted campaign to attract people to our industry.  And that is going to need money!

The industry has previously raised monies for industry promotion campaigns, government lobbying and for charitable causes.  A co-ordinated approach to attracting talent to our industry is achievable.  Who is going to lead this?