Most of us could not get through a single day without relying on some aspect of the supply chain; whether we realize our dependency or not. Society’s dependence on a successful supply chain makes the fact that there are growing talent gaps across the logistics industry even more problematic.
Like any industry, supply chains must have the skilled human capital for current positions, but they must also have methods for flowing skilled workers up through the pipeline. We see three primary contributors to the supply chain talent gap.
Aging workforce
We see this phenomenon especially affecting the truck driver industry. Older workers are either retiring or choosing to leave the industry for less physical work. Logistics companies in recent years have strived to make their truck driver jobs more appealing to younger audiences but need to do more to promote these efforts. At On Time Logistics, we celebrate the flexibility that our truck driver positions hold both in schedule and types of routes. Not interest in or able to do the heavy lifting? We need couriers who deliver documents, medical records, and other smaller items. As independent contractors, our couriers have more say-so and autonomy than truck drivers who are bound by a traditional employment contract.
Lack of awareness
That leads us to another issue, which is a lack of awareness—both of what jobs are available and what they entail. Like the manufacturing industry, the logistics industry often faces people’s misconceptions about the diversity in jobs. Not all the supply chain jobs involve long drives (none of our drivers are over the road) or heavy lifting in a warehouse. While warehousing is a rapidly increasing need because of the rise in e-commerce, that process has much more automation than it did even a decade ago.
Lack of training
We read increasing reports that some companies who are part of a supply chain are decreasing the amount of training they provide for potential or new employees. This means that the companies are either only hiring experienced employees (see above about aging workforce that would indicate why this method is not sustainable), or they are hiring employees and expecting them to learn on the job. We know that our couriers and warehouse workers come from a broad range of industries. We want them to succeed so we will never cut corners on our training and certification requirements!
The talent gaps in the supply chain will only increase if these three issues are not adequately addressed. While it’s important for individual companies to take the lead, we believe it’s going to take an industry-wide effort to truly move the needle.