Competence and Capacity Gaps

By Tim Killen

Almost all industries are facing a severe talent gap, and this is especially true for the project logistics industry. This development can be seen at nearly every level: from management to logistics specialists and further along the supply chain in terms of skilled technical and operations people. We have an aging workforce in general in this industry, and the attrition of experienced professionals far outweighs the speed at which we can bring in new skills and experience.

There is the perception that logistics is an old-fashioned discipline, making it difficult to find logistics talents from within the industry or to attract and bring new talents into project logistics from the outside. This means that recruiting, retaining and developing people into end-to-end thinkers is needed. At the same time, the industry has lost many experts over the last two years due to experienced professionals going into retirement, as well as people transitioning to careers outside of logistics.

After decades of working in this industry, I see that we have to compete for young professionals with industries that offer more tangible and defined career paths in new and emerging businesses and digital environments. So, it is critical that as an industry we can easily demonstrate to young professionals the importance and attractiveness of logistics as a key role within the supply chain, highlighting the many opportunities available in this specialized and challenging career path.

Continuing professional development opportunities, succession planning and consistent knowledge transfer are important aspects in any professional’s career path or organization’s HR strategy. Due to the diverse nature of the global project logistics industry, it can make defined career planning difficult, at a time when new graduates are looking for definition, commitment and certainty in their career journeys.


Attitude Counts for Much

Project logistics is a complex and challenging industry; therefore, professionals with the right attitude, values and work ethic are a critical asset. Hiring and developing resources can be based on mindset – not necessarily on experience or skills alone because those can be taught and developed. Once you have attracted and developed strong people, staff retention is the next challenge.

At deugro, we feel it is very important to gain a broad knowledge base in terms of project management methodologies, tools and practices to support this journey. This is coupled with an important focus on digitalization and automation to support the transition between the old and new ways of supply chains being managed and project logistics delivered.

It is important that together, we address both the challenge and the solution to close the competence and capacity gaps we currently have. And we need to invest in short- as well as long-term solutions – positioning project logistics and all its facets as a career of choice to ensure that we have a strong, reliable and sustainable future.

By working together, we have an opportunity to look at transferring skills up and down the supply chain. From manufacturing and engineering to shippers and logistics service providers, all must collaborate and invest together in a cross-industry drive to provide a more comprehensive view of the logistics chain and requirements.
We are committed to supporting this industry requirement and look forward to Breakbulk Europe 2022 in Rotterdam as an opportunity to discuss and align with our peers in the industry and get this joint initiative started.  


Tim Killen is chief sales officer at deugro.

Image credit: deugro