A senior council officer has revealed that recruiting bin lorry drivers in Aberdeen is “an ongoing battle”.
Last year, following a shake-up of services to boost recycling, many residents complained of bins being left uncollected.
Some 70,000 new 180 litre bins were distributed to city homes last summer.
But due partly due to a lack of 15 drivers, there were nearly 7,000 complaints by residents of missed collections between February and September.
At yesterday’s operational committee, chief officer Mark Riley was quizzed by Liberal Democrat Steve Delaney on what was being done to tackle the skills shortage.
He said: “Unfortunately as quickly as we can recruit, we lose them. We went out recently for 11 drivers and found five suitable applicants. By the time we appointed them we had lost another five.
“There is a lot of competition out there for lorry drivers. It’s not just an Aberdeen problem, it’s a national problem.
“It’s an ongoing battle.”
Mr Riley added that the authority were now looking for suitable candidates in Aberdeenshire.
Recruiting bin lorry drivers ‘ongoing battle’ for city council
