After the Brexit referendum and for some time afterwards my Spanish colleagues would say that Britain no longer wanted to be part of the “club” and of course there was plenty of jokes and banter. I would say that the outlook of Europeans towards the British changed after Brexit.
It was as if they had been snubbed, with Britain electing to remain alone rather than part of a group. It was a question of not being part of the European family. I can understand why some European workers don´t want to return to Britain because obviously things have changed and it is more difficult to get employment.
The British government has suddenly realised that they need European workers more than European workers need them and a charm offensive has been launched to attract non-British workers from the continent.
As we all know there is a big shortage of truck drivers partly because of Brexit and partly due to Covid. I think the British divorce from the European Union was handled badly by both sides.
The British government should have realised that there would be a shortage of workers once Britain left the EU and more should have been done to ensure that they stayed in Britain. Obviously, the pandemic didn´t help either. Many Europeans left Britain and went home and they haven´t come back.
Unfortunately, European Union workers are vital for the British economy, something which the British government has just realised.