Those of us that wish to get a taxi home from Saturday night’s New Year’s Eve celebrations could be in for a disappointment. The region’s taxi companies have received a flood of reservations and this coupled with staff shortages means that those booking a cab at the last minute could face a long wait or even the prospect of having to walk home. Pierre Steenberghen of the taxi federation NGT told VRT News that his members are around 20% understaffed.
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Taxi firms warn of long waits for a cab due to staff shortages
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Taxis are just one of several sectors of the economy that currently face staff shortages.During the coronavirus crisis around a quarter of the region’s taxi drivers left the industry to seek jobs elsewhere. Since then some new staff has been found. Nevertheless, Pierre Steenberghen told VRT News that taxi companies are still around 20% down on the number of drivers they had prior to the onset of the pandemic.
Labour shortages in the wider economy and regulations governing the taxi industry make it particularly difficult to recruit new drivers. "Every new taxi driver has to be in possession of a (taxi) driver’s pass. In order to get this, you need a clean criminal record, to have pass the level B1 competence level in Dutch.
The bar has been set too high, certainly for what is one of the most diverse sectors in Flanders. The administrative procedures sometimes take several weeks. By the time you are actually able to take someone on the driver has already moved on to another sector”, Mr Steenberghen said.
The shortage of drivers means that we will have to be extra patient if we want to get a taxi home. Sharing a taxi with other revelers might be an idea if you want to get home (relatively) quickly and safety from the New Year festivities.