Regardless of whose fault it is – Brexit, the ping-demic, workforce demographics or anything else – the sparsely populated supermarket shelves caused by the shortage of HGV drivers are a daily reminder that we have issues in our labour market.

At the same time, when we have over 140,000 Scottish employees still on furlough, new FSB figures show that a third of small employers are experiencing staff shortages. Over two in five attribute this to a lack of local workers.

Labour market gaps, of course, are nothing new. But the end freedom of movement for EU workers means we need to change how we plug them.

It goes without saying that our size and demographic challenges still require us to have an immigration system that meets our economy’s needs. So, to stay with the HGV driver example, we need to amend the rules and give EU drivers temporary work visas.

But we can’t get round the fact that it’s now nothing like as practical to rely on workers from the EU to make up any shortfall. Thus, irrespective of whether you view this as the rebirth or ruin of the economy, we will need to get better at developing our own workforce.

So, in the case of HGVs, we must look at how we can make driver training more affordable. Equally, we can mount a push to get retired drivers back in the cab and prioritise clearing the backlog of HGV driver tests.

All this, though, is about sorting out a problem that has already blown up. The real longer-term task is to get better at spotting potential issues on the horizon and heading them off.

For years, the answer to this was getting more detail on what skills would be needed, where and when. And, all credit to Skills Development Scotland, they took this on and today provide acres of detailed labour market data. The issue now, however, is that this data doesn’t seem to be getting used as well as it should be – especially by other parts of government.

Could at least some of the near £2.7bn we invest in the Scottish education and skills system every year be more closely aligned with where the data is telling us the opportunities are going to lie? Quite apart from the increased economic return, doesn’t that deliver a better outcome for every learner?

The other linkage we need to strengthen is between major public policy shifts and workforce planning. If the government has committed to, say, an expansion of early years childcare, or the establishment of a national care service, to what extent have the labour requirements been assessed and how is that reflected in the education and skills system?

Not that this is solely a matter for government. The days when you stopped learning the last time you walked through the school or college gates are long gone.

Just under half of us who work in the private sector do so in a small business, so we need to make it easier for smaller employers to develop and upskill their staff in a way that works for their business. With co-investment models proving popular, we could, for example, give smaller firms £1 back for every £3 they invest in their own or their employee’s skills. Some more tailored advice about the training options that are now out there could also prove invaluable.

Let’s be under no illusion that solving this issue will be easy. If it was, we’d have done it years ago.

But where we are today should give us renewed determination to act. If we don’t, it won’t just be supermarket shelves that are left empty. Our wallets and public finances will be similarly bereft.

Colin Borland is director of devolved nations for the Federation of Small Businesses