By Lisa Harrington, president, lharrington group LLC and senior research fellow, Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland.
The supply chain sector is facing a talent shortage that is quickly escalating from a gap to a potential crisis.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that jobs in logistics are estimated to grow by 26 percent between 2010 and 2020 while one global study estimates that demand for supply chain professionals exceeds supply by a ratio of six to one.
Others put those numbers even higher.
“For every graduate with supply chain skills there are six holes to be filled, and it could be as high as nine to one in the future,” warns Jake Barr, CEO of BlueWorld Supply Chain Consulting.
The situation is exacerbated by the exodus of baby boomers from the workforce.
Some studies assert that 25 to 33 percent of the current supply chain workforce is at or beyond retirement age, and the backfill pipeline is inadequate to satisfy replenishment demand.
Leading companies understand they must act to resolve this situation, or face the effects of having the wrong kind of talent to run their supply chains.
The potential consequences are worrying – in some industries the talent gap could threaten the ability of companies to compete on the global stage.
So, what are organizations doing to address the problem?
To find out, DHL Supply Chain surveyed over 350 supply chain and operations professionals in the five major regions of the world.
This report summarizes the key findings.
Survey Results: High-Level Takeaways