Downloading and emailing a photo from WhatsApp should be an easy task. But, when a customer sent pictures of a project to a branch of builders’ merchant Travis Perkins, six staff members were still struggling to transfer the file from the social media app two hours later.
“In the end, they waited for a 22-year-old colleague,” recalls Andy Rayner, head of apprenticeships and early careers at the company. “That’s six people and two hours of labour time . . . it comes down to taking longer to do things which could be done quicker and more efficiently.”
Technology may promise to improve the efficiency of work processes, but the experience of Travis Perkins shows that skill shortages of all kinds are causing problems for businesses, workers, and the economy.
