G LO BA L C R I SES CEO Sheheryar Nasir and Director of Operations Tabinda Naseer Usman with their operations team also offers storage and handles shipments other than those of personal effects. Recruitment problems Tabinda Naseer Usman Director of Operations at Transpack At Fermont International Movers in Frankfurt, CEO Susie Freifrau von Verschuer, is another moving company executive battling to recruit enough staff, while working hard to retain existing loyal employees. Trying to get people on board to do the job is really difficult, she says. (Finding) staff in general, Managing the tough times Some tips from FIDI Affiliates: Employees should be reminded not to waste energy unnecessarily; switch off lights in the warehouse and ofces when closed; do not leave machines and equipment running unnecessarily when not in use. Dont waste packaging material unnecessarily, much of it can be used several times. Rolf Schfer, Andreas Christ, Germany Movers should take sustainability development goals into consideration. Renewable energy resources are common. Alternatively, transition to the use of solar panels could be used to reduce energy bills. Motion sensors can be used in warehouses as a smart lighting system. Tabinda Naseer Usman, Transpack International Moving, Pakistan We have a number of people who have opted to continue to work from home and will certainly be encouraging others to do the same in order to reduce amount of energy used in our ofces. Simon Hood, John Mason International Moving, UK for the office and in the moving crews is hard, because a lot of school kids think they need to go to university after school to make a higher salary. Of course, its not the best paid job (in moving), but its a good job and a secure one. According to Von Verschuer, employees can struggle to pay their domestic energy bills as these have increased so much. A cost-of-living crisis, where peoples bills exceed their income, has also meant regular grocery shopping trips can be double the price of those just a few months ago and Germany is far from the only country affected. Fermont goes to lengths to help its staff by offering training and looking after their wellbeing. One example is by funding most of the travel pass cost for employees who live in the greater Frankfurt area. This means they only have to pay 20 per month to use trams and buses to travel to work in a green way. Recruiting truck drivers is particularly difficult, despite a bespoke apprenticeship programme with a training programme that takes three years. If Fermont takes on a driver and decides to sponsor their full training, it costs around 20,000 to get a full licence. And then it takes about seven months until the driver is finished, fully registered and good to go, says Von Verschuer. In common with other movers, she also detects a decline in the general work ethic in the overall German workforce, including recruits who might wish to join moving companies. Although there are still loyal employees, there is a big emphasis is on achieving a work/life balance especially among younger generations. 40 FF308 Dec-Jan 23 pp36-43 Regional Focus Global Crises.indd 40 05/12/2022 17:00