Labor Shortages in the Supply Chain Workforce

Labor shortages can be attributed to five main components affecting the labor pool. First is the lack of emerging talent. As supply chain and manufacturing industries increase in complexity and size, so must the workforce. The growth level of the labor pool is currently inadequate for the corresponding growth of the industry, outpacing available staff six to one. The talent gap is also contributing to growing labor shortages. As Baby Boomers retire (an estimated 60 million between now and 2025) and GenXers enter the workforce (approximately 40 million) a significant talent gap is appearing. Experienced Baby Boomers are being replaced by their less knowledgeable and less experienced younger counterparts creating higher turnover rates and increase onboarding periods. This not only causes a talent gap, but increased labor costs as well. Growing complexity of the supply chain is also negatively impacting the available labor pool. Customer needs and requirements are increasing in areas such as order fulfillment, VAS and omni-channel retailing. This increase complexity means workers must have more technical skills to fulfill minimum requirements. This has created an environment where 60% of supply chain jobs require skills that a mere 20% of the labor pool possesses. This has also forced employers to eliminate siloed structures, creating jobs where a wider range of functional areas must be covered. Now 3 out of 4 jobs will not exist in their current state by 2016. These types of jobs has helped to make the talent gap that much more apparent. Academia has also impacted the labor pool in that there are now less professors available to teach supply chain/logistics concepts needed to prepare for these positions, further widening the talent gap. This is also due to the large shift towards retirement in the Baby Boomer generation. The labor shortage in the supply chain workforce is affecting businesses worldwide. To learn more about how this can affect your operation or what tools you can utilize to mitigate the effects contact Datex experts today at www.datexcorp.com or marketing@datexcorp.com.