Bus companies are struggling to recruit employees, especially drivers and conductors. With the agreement of the Ministry of Labour, Nepalese, Indians and Malagasy people are expected to take the wheel of Mauritian buses in the coming weeks or months.
From one bus company to another, it is the same observation: succession is not assured for the positions of driver, conductor, and even mechanic. Consequence: buses in good condition must remain in the garage in the morning, due to a lack of drivers to take the wheel.
But salvation could come from abroad in the future, with the recruitment of drivers from various countries. Nepal, India and Madagascar are thus cited as potential markets for recruiting foreign drivers to compensate for the lack of local labor.
Viraj Nundlall, Managing Director of Triolet Bus Service (TBS), Krishna Kistnen, HR Manager of RHT Holding Ltd, Rao Ramah, General Manager of the National Transport Corporation (NTC), Dhiraj Dosieah, Managing Director of Mauritian Bus Transport Ltd ( MBT), and Swaleh Ramjane, Managing Director of United Bus Service (UBS), explain that the various recruitment campaigns on the local market have proven unsuccessful. “There is almost no local workforce left in this sector, there is a great lack of interest in filling these positions,” says Viraj Nundlall.
Absence of candidates
Rao Ramah agrees and reveals that the notice launched for the recruitment of 70 drivers has indeed reached this figure, whereas previously, it would have been necessary to make a selection among the approximately 300 to 500 registrations that the company usually received. “For the past four years, we have had fewer and fewer applications. There is little interest, or even an absence of potential candidates on the market,” he explains. In view of this situation, he is of the opinion that the next recruitment campaign may not attract many people either.
Hard situation
The situation is difficult, especially since the procedures to become a bus driver are long, continues Viraj Nundlall. “You first have to have the license and there is training that is essential. But it turns out that we do not have any aspirants to train,” he notes. Dhiraj Dosieah adds that the conductors, for example, must have a clean character certificate, according to the regulations. However, with the company policy that requires good conduct from employees, this precious sesame would not be essential with the training that is provided.
“In the interest of our company, we provide training sessions to our employees. It is in the company's interest that they have a good attitude towards passengers. Thus, any deficiency can be noted and corrected during this stage, which makes the character certificate 'obsolete', which can take three weeks to a month to be issued,” according to him.
In addition, aspiring receivers have to pass exams with the National Land Transport Authority (NLTA), which takes several weeks. If these steps could be avoided, it would be a good thing, Dhiraj Dosieah points out. The internal training sessions are there to train staff according to the company's line of conduct, so that they provide good service to customers, he emphasizes.
This lack of manpower is therefore not without consequences on the daily operation of the various companies, with buses in good working order having to remain in the garage due to a lack of drivers. This leads to delays on certain routes, amplified by traffic jams, but also sometimes by absences. Some passengers thus mention the recurring delays on certain lines, while the time for a bus to pass has increased from 15 or 20 minutes to thirty minutes during the week and up to an hour on weekends.
Our various interlocutors, however, affirm that measures are being taken to minimize constraints on the traveling public with part-time drivers who are called to the rescue. Here, these are often drivers employed in other sectors who take advantage of their “off” day to work in these companies, in order to supplement their income. Full-time employees are also in greater demand, add Viraj Nundlall, Krishna Kistnen and Swaleh Ramjane. They are therefore called upon to double their shifts, which increases costs in terms of overtime. Swaleh Ramjane and Dhiraj Dosieah argue that they must thank these employees who agree, after their morning shift, to work in the afternoon, and that their respective companies have no choice but to pay them their dues.
This decline in the local workforce is also structural, according to Rao Ramah and Swaleh Ramjane. Particularly due to the aging of the population and the decline in the working population. This situation is palpable in all sectors, according to the general director of the CNT.
Recruitment and training of foreigners
The RHT has made a request for the recruitment of 33 drivers who will come from Nepal, Madagascar or India, following the plan put in place by the Ministry of Labor, explains Krishna Kistnen. These drivers will have to attend training sessions with the MITD and pass the police driving test to obtain their license to be able to drive on Mauritian roads. “We had a quota of 33 drivers based on the number of our employees, according to the formula one foreign driver for three local drivers,” he says.
Recruiting foreign drivers may be difficult for small companies, maintains Dhiraj Dosieah, particularly in terms of salary, while Viraj Nundlall mentions the long procedures as being an obstacle to the recruitment of foreign drivers, but steps have been taken, he made us understand.
On the UBS side, accommodation is being developed to accommodate 16 drivers from Nepal. The company is even considering increasing the capacity to 80, if necessary.
At the CNT level, Rao Ramah says there are not many options. Discussions have already been started with the various unions. “We have not yet reached the stage of recruiting foreign workers. We will launch a new recruitment campaign. If it is as unsuccessful as the previous ones, we will have to consider other solutions.”
He stresses, however, that nothing has been finalized regarding the recruitment of foreign workers, as talks are still ongoing. But in the future, new solutions will have to be found, he says.
Travelers' behavior criticized
According to Swaleh Ramjane and Dhiraj Dosieah, the behaviour of the travelling public is one of the reasons that does not encourage young people to enter this sector. Moreover, adds Swaleh Ramjane, former employees, who know the sector, would not encourage their children to follow the same path, but to find a job with less restrictive hours. “Being a driver or conductor is a difficult job. You have to start early or finish late,” add Krishna Kistnen and Dhiraj Dosieah.
