Critical understaffing is causing problems for the Walloon transport company TEC, which needs to hire an additional 294 bus drivers before the end of the year, La Libre Belgique reports.
At the end of last year, TEC announced that it was facing a significant shortage of drivers for its routes. It claimed that it would ultimately need to hire 496 drivers before the end of 2022. This reflected badly on Walloon Minister of Transport Phillipe Henry, who had promised a significant development of the current network.
Since then, TEC has made significant progress in hiring new staff. The company has hired roughly 200 drivers over the last eight months but is now racing against the clock to hire the remaining staff.
Concretely, since December 2022, the Walloon transport company has hired and trained 202 new drivers. 153 are now working, and a further 49 are still in training, according to information from the minister.
Staffing issues are most pressing in TEC Namur-Luxembourg (88 needed), TEC Liège-Verviers (85), TEC Charleroi (56), TEC Hainaut (38), and TEC Walloon Brabant (27). The minister insists that the current staffing problems do not pose any problem to bus routes and that there are no plans to cut back its offering.
There are already signs that the company’s recruitment drive is going in the right direction. Between January and May 2023, the company received 2,783 job applications for these positions, 55% more than for the same period last year. Applications for TEC Hainaut are up 217% and 95% for Charleroi.
The company warns that critical driver shortage could affect punctuality on certain lines. The latest challenge for the company will now be ensuring a good service for the start of the school year with the help of subcontractors.
