A new report reveals the logistics sector has a significant recruitment problem, which could potentially cause the nation to grind to a halt.
Only eight per cent of young people consider the sector to be an attractive career option and an astounding 42 per cent don’t even know what logistics is. With only nine per cent of the current workforce being under 25 – and 45 per cent being over 45 – time is running out for the sector before it experiences a devastating skills deficit.
Nearly 500 students and teachers attending the WorldSkills UK Live exhibition took part in the research, which also reveals significant concerns around diversity, career opportunities and salary.
A quarter (26 per cent) of the young people quizzed said they do not believe there is gender diversity within the logistics sector. Only 18 per cent have been spoken to at school or Sixth Form about logistics as a career path. What’s more, most are unaware of the range of roles available within logistics, which can range from facilities managers and data analysts to freight co-ordinators and materials planners.
Ruth Edwards, business manager of Talent in Logistics, said,
The perception of logistics is arguably the biggest problem facing the sector when trying to recruit new talent. As an organisation we want to promote the importance of recruiting talent from groups that are currently under-represented in the logistics industry It’s only by future-proofing the nation’s currently thriving logistics sector that we can keep the UK moving
While driver shortages and skills gaps are already taking their toll, the biggest hurdle is the sector’s ageing population and the lack of millennials coming up through the ranks to replace them.
It is hoped the Talent in Logistics report will help raise awareness of the need to safeguard against the impending skills deficit, by exploring the reasons millennials so rarely consider logistics as a career and recommending effective recruitment strategies to help businesses attract and retain them.
Ruth Edwards added,
We are calling upon the sector and the education system to play their part in ensuring young people are aware of the many amazing opportunities and career paths available within logistics.
*By Talent Logistics
Interested in recruiting young talent? We recommend the Recruitment and Retention Conference 2019 and Apprentices and School Leavers Conference 2019.
Aphrodite is a creative writer and editor specialising in publishing and communications. She is passionate about undertaking projects in diverse sectors. She has written and edited copy for media as varied as social enterprise, art, fashion and education. She is at her most happy owning a project from its very conception, focusing on the client and project research in the first instance, and working closely with CEOs and Directors throughout the consultation process. Much of her work has focused on rebranding; messaging and tone of voice is one of her expertise, as is a distinctively unique writing style in my most of her creative projects. Her work is always driven by the versatility of language to galvanise image and to change perception, as it is by inspiring and being inspired by the wondrous diversity of people with whom paths she crosses cross!
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