Logistics recruitment in the second half of was up 20 per cent on the year before – despite the Brexit vote, according to Bis Henderson.
Chief executive Andy Kaye said: “We were half expecting a tail-off in hiring following the decision to leave the EU but that simply hasn’t materialised so far – far from it.”
Kaye highlighted the shortage of talent coming through the pipeline pointing out that the best candidates could now command significantly more than market average salaries.
“Following the downturn many companies cut back on their graduate recruitment programmes. Whereas organisations would have taken on 20-25 graduates a year, more recently they have been only taking on ten or less. This change has led to a shortage of talented individuals coming through the pipeline and the impacts will be felt for some time to come.”
For us the challenge is finding the right levels of talent employers are demanding. The positive impact of this demand is the rise in creativity from employers to attract the right candidates; enhanced packages and more flexible working arrangements are definitely a trend set to remain. In short, the best candidates are commanding significantly more than the market average.”
The greatest call for skills is for individuals who understand logistics and supply chain activities related to e-commerce. Mark Botham, COO at Bis Henderson said: “The greatest call for skills is managing processes around single-item picking and the preparation of small orders is highly complex and requires talented people with strong problem solving skills, the ability to communicate well and who are up-to-speed on the latest warehouse technology.”
And he warned: “The flow of people from Eastern Europe has slowed significantly and that will put pressure on middle management roles. Logistics and supply chain managers will have to become more creative about how they resource labour and how they develop future strategies to cope with a tightening labour market. I believe automation will be very much on the agenda and this could well be why organisations are seeking talented individuals capable of implementing such technology.”
