Professional drivers are increasingly in demand in job advertisements. How many are missing, why aren’t there enough of them and how much are they paid in Serbia, and how many abroad?
“Urgently needed driver to work in a production company. B category permit required, for driving vans and pickups. Earnings of 75,000 dinars, registration and two days off per week. Working hours from 08:00 to 16:00.”
This is just one of the ads that have flooded the internet in recent months. There are many business offers that require drivers, but despite the fact that the salary can reach up to 120,000 dinars per month, there is a great shortage of this workforce in Serbia.
How many drivers are missing and why they are not enough?
There are about 160,000 professional drivers with a CPC professional driver certificate in Serbia. According to the age structure, there are 30.72 percent of drivers over the age of 51, while there are 9.26 percent of drivers under the age of 30, according to data from the Srbijatransport association.
That the Association lacks between 7,000 and 10,000 professional drivers, including those who drive low-tonnage vehicles, buses and special vehicles, was recently said from the Association of Freight Carriers in International Road Traffic “International Transport”.
The data of Infostud also show how much professional drivers are in demand in Serbia, where they explained to MONDO that this situation has been going on for a long time. Despite the popular opinion that truck and bus drivers are most in demand, a simple category B permit is required for the most sought-after jobs.
“Drivers are in short supply and last year it turned out to be the staff we miss the most. The increase in demand for drivers came after the pandemic crown and the expansion of courier services and delivery people. We have no official data on wages, but we know employers are trying to they are increasing in order to keep the staff B-category drivers are most in demand, “says Milos Turinski.
Apart from car drivers, Serbia also lacks truck and bus drivers, they confirm for our portal from Infostud.
“The largest number of truck drivers go abroad because of five times higher salaries than they can get in Serbia, since our market cannot send salaries abroad. Also, the problem in Serbia is that passing and obtaining a license for these categories is very important. it is expensive and costs several thousand euros. Drivers and business owners in Serbia are facing this, “says Turinski.
The same story is confirmed to us by the owner of a company from Belgrade who has not been able to find workers for the transport of goods for months.
“I have a problem with delivering goods to customers because I don’t have enough drivers available. When drivers have to do loading or unloading, they have a hard time accepting the job, regardless of the salary, which can be far above average. Truck drivers are almost impossible to find. car drivers find it because such a job is more comfortable. However, their salary of 60,000 or 70,000 is low and that is why there is a deficit in this area as well “, the owner of the company Milan Pavlović told MONDO.
However, from the driver’s point of view, the situation is somewhat different and many of them gave up their jobs in Serbia and instead found a job abroad.
“For the same job I do in Serbia in Germany, I can earn three times more. At the same time, I drive better vehicles, I have more favorable working conditions and I don’t have to think about whether the agreements will be respected. “The minimum wage was paid in an envelope. There were problems when the vehicle broke down or the damage was collected during the traffic, which I also did not experience abroad. Because of all that, I decided not to work as a driver in Serbia anymore,” he told MONDO driver Aleksandar Grubić, Mondo reports.
