Iceland has said that it will recruit 2000 additional staff to address a staff shortage triggered by employees having to self-isolate after being 'pinged' by the NHS Covid App.

According to the BBC, despite keeping all of its stores open during the various lockdowns, Iceland has now had to shut some because 1,000 staff were order to self-isolate.

"The great irony is that we're now all getting vaccinated,” said Richard Walker, chief executive, Iceland.

The chief exec told the news broadcaster that as well as shutting stores, it has also had to reduce opening hours at some locations.

According to him, four per cent of Iceland’s 30,000-strong workforce were absent this week.

"In fact, we've just announced employing an additional 2,000 people on top of that to give us a deeper pool of labour, because so many people are now getting pinged," he told the BBC.

Share Story: