An essay about AI eating white-collar careers has been read 80 million times. It’s caused a lot of anxiety. HGV Driver Training Centre thinks people are looking in the wrong direction.
Eighty million people have read the essay. Maybe you’re one of them.
It was written by an AI entrepreneur in February and it says, plainly, that the disruption of law firms, consultancies and finance roles isn’t coming. It’s here. The graduate professions that a generation was told to aim for are being hollowed out, and the people inside them are starting to feel it.
While that panic has been spreading, something else has been happening. Quietly, and mostly unreported.
Britain is 60,000 HGV drivers short. Every year. And it’s getting worse. The average driver is 51. Fewer than 1 in 100 is under 25. Eighty percent of the country’s goods move by road. Nobody is fixing this.
HGV Driver Training Centre has been watching the numbers on both sides of this story for a while now. And they think the moment has come to say something directly.
“Young people watching the AI debate unfold are understandably anxious. But while everyone focuses on prompt engineering and upskilling for desk work, there’s a sector with documented, urgent demand that no algorithm can satisfy. We need people on the road — real people with judgement, skill and presence.”
— Anthony Baker, Head of Recruitment, HGV Driver Training Centre
Something is shifting
It’s early. But there are signs.
- Younger drivers, when they do take the test, are more successful compared to older demographics. 2024/25 saw a higher pass rate for 21-30 year olds than for 50-59 year olds. The ability is clearly there.
- Google searches for HGV training were up 5% in early 2025. Not a flood. But a direction.
- 55% of current drivers are aged 50-65. Anyone coming in now isn’t fighting for position – they’re walking into a vacuum.
The scale of the shortage
The OBR told the Treasury in November 2025 that 2.1 million jobs in financial and professional services are at risk from AI over the next decade. That number gets shared a lot. This one doesn’t:
- 100,000 HGV drivers let their Driver Qualification Cards lapse last year. One in six of all working-age licence holders. Gone.
- The average driver is 51. The retirements are coming and they’re not being replaced.
- 80% of UK goods travel by road. This isn’t an abstract workforce issue.
Starting pay for qualified drivers runs from £30,000 to £45,000. No student debt. Training costs typically paid back within months of qualifying.
It’s not glamorous. But it’s real, it’s in demand, and no AI program is going to do it.
Media Contact
Keira Gordon, Marketing Executive
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.easyashgv.co.uk
