The world of Logistics, Transportation & Supply Chain is rapidly going through a vast transformation. Innovations & technologies are being adopted at an unprecedented rate – and increasing productivity while managing costs to maintain market attractiveness is on every business leaders mind. So as we move towards the "smart factory" through the adoption of cloud computing, big data analytics & the Internet of Things (IoT), we’ve been asking ourselves – are the days of thin margins a thing of the past – and more importantly, what impact does this all have on the industry?

Our research suggests that the sector’s unfavorable image could be hampering its ability to attract and retain top talent.

Employers in all industries are feeling the pressure of an increasingly candidate-driven market, especially when it comes to managerial and professional hiring. Take the Logistics sector as an example: Material Handling Industry (MHI) predicts in the U.S. alone the sector will need to fill about 1.4 million jobs by 2018; however, demand for Logistics and Supply Chain professionals exceeds supply by a ratio of 6 to 1. These figures make worrying reading for Logistics HR and business leaders.

Talk to any business leader in the Logistics sector and they will tell you that as today’s customers increasingly seek to differentiate themselves. The key to success increasingly lies in identifying groups of customers with similar needs for whom you can develop a tailored logistics response – or in other words, a logistics segmentation strategy. In my opinion, the same can be said about your talent pooling. Enabling you to develop a deeper understanding of all types of candidates in your talent pool, discover what makes each of them tick, and well-attune your pooling activities to their interests, candidate segmentation is a great way for companies looking to unlock the full potential of the talent pool. 

For many, Logistics is as simple as the movement of goods from A to B. For business it is a trillion dollar industry. In this interview, Yvette Rogier, Global Director of Randstad’s Logistics sector, shares her perspective on what skills are critical to the future of the Logistics sector, what strategies companies can adopt to bridge the skills gap, and what challenges they will most likely be confronted with when putting these strategies into practice.