Study Predicts Far More New Logistics Jobs Than Qualified Workers Over Next 4 Years
This story appears in the Nov. 5 print edition of Transport Topics.
U.S. companies are expected to create more than 1 million logistics-related jobs in the next four years, but educational institutions are currently turning out a small fraction of the trained workers that will be needed, a new study shows.
The shortfall will make it more difficult for companies to expand sales and will raise product costs for consumers, said Page Siplon, executive director of the Georgia Center of Innovation for Logistics, which conducted the study.
“The logistics industry is expected to create 270,200 job openings per year to keep up with demand and growth of the industry,” said Siplon. “The nation’s 7,642 educational institutions currently generate 75,277 formally trained, degreed or certified workers each year. This will fill about 28% of the related job openings that are expected to be made available every year.”
Logistics jobs include everything from truck drivers and loaders to industrial engineers and procurement specialists.
“Not only is there a wide range of job opportunities, but the level of competency and expertise required within those jobs is increasing,” Siplon said.
He reported that trucking had the biggest annual labor deficit, a shortfall of 98,884 drivers, The shortage of truck drivers actually “could be closer to 120,000 and could balloon to more than 240,000 by the end of next year,” Siplon said, citing estimates by numerous industry experts.
“This mass shortage is not new,” he said, “and stems from an expected 100% turnover rate to continue in this part of the industry.”
Warehouse and distribution labor also fell short by 92,506 workers annually, the report found.
Other job categories in need of more workers include: logistics operations and management personnel, with an annual deficit of 3,873 workers; freight rail, in need of 4,368 more applicants; and air-cargo supervisors, requiring 260 additional new hires.
Only industrial engineering had a surplus of trained personnel, the study found.
To come up with the estimates, Siplon said, the report compared Labor Department data on projected job openings in logistics-related occupations with data from the U.S. Department of Education on the number of students receiving certificates or degrees for the 2010 school year.
Part of the problem in addressing the shortage of logistics personnel, Siplon said, is that the government does not recognize supply chain and logistics as a distinct industry.
“Logistics is really not just an industry, it is an ecosystem in which all sectors and participants rely on one another to move freight from point A to point B,” he said.
“The better connected this logistics ecosystem, the more efficient, cost-effective, secure and reliable the movement of products can be,” Siplon added. “This can equate to improved margins for the shippers and potentially translate to lower prices for consumers.”
In 2011, U.S. businesses spent $1.3 trillion on logistics-related costs, including $812 billion on truck, rail, air and ocean transportation and $418 billion in inventory carrying costs, according to an annual State of Logistics Report published by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals.
To meet the need for more logistics workers, Siplon called for:
• Earlier visibility of logistics in high schools and colleges.
• Increased internships.
• Better coordination and support for technical schools.
• Help for military personnel transitioning to civilian life.
• Enhanced marketing of logistics education.
The competencies needed for workers in the category of transportation, distribution and logistics, according to guidelines issued by the Labor Department, Siplon said, “include personal ones such as flexibility and integ-rity, basic academic skill in math and writing, teamwork, problem solving and organization, and industrywide competency in the application of technology and customer service.”
