Good morning.
The shortage of staff in the aviation sector has been exposed after an airline asked its executives to carry luggage.
Qantas has written to head office bosses looking for 100 volunteers to leave office work for three months and handle bags.
They are required to load and unload luggage as well as drive vehicles carrying bags between planes and terminals. Applicants must be able to move luggage weighing up to 32 kg.
Meanwhile, the head of JetBlue has said the US budget airline needs to hire more staff because of the rate at which people are leaving the industry.
It comes as the sector faces widespread staff shortages as companies struggle to cope with a sharp upturn in demand following the pandemic.
5 things to start the day
1) The UK really isn’t working, and the collapse of the NHS is to blame. Economic inactivity has risen in the UK despite falling in most of the developed world
2) Generation Rent ‘failed by government on housing’ – Redrow boss issues warning after Truss and Sunak vow to abandon housing targets
3) Vegetable shortages increase as Europe battles heat wave: Water shortages and shipping chaos mean shoppers will have fewer options.
4) Why Europe is suffering from a worse inflation crisis than Britain – The UK is experiencing less inflation than the average EU nation
5) Amazon workers plan wave of strikes as pay row heats up: The company was hit by spontaneous layoffs last week
What happened during the night
Shares fell in Hong Kong this morning, with the Hang Seng Index down 0.7%.
The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.4% and the Shenzhen Composite Index of China’s second bourse also fell 0.4%.
Tokyo stocks were trading within a tight range. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index opened at a low, but then rose 0.2%. The broader Topix index pared losses and fell 0.06%.
It arrives today
Company: Clarkson, PageGroup (provisional results)