Why Now is the Best Time to Start Your Career in the Logistics Sector

by Guest Author, Lucy Wyndham

Economics research firms report that nearly 31% of grocery products in American stores were out of stock in recent weeks. Clearly, current events are putting tremendous pressure on global supply chains that are already suffering a shortage of drivers. Indeed, everyone from food delivery to freight companies are looking for drivers, making it one of the best paying jobs for car enthusiasts without a mechanics background.

Managerial roles

Between the storage of vaccines and the explosion in popularity of on-demand fresh food, demand for cold storage warehousing is growing rapidly. Changes in the market like this are leaving warehousing companies with severe staffing shortages, almost half a million last year. As a result, many companies are offering increased wages and financial incentives for new employees. Roles such as warehouse logisticians and workers are in high demand with non-supervisory labor wages rising significantly faster than inflation over the last few years.

As someone entirely new to the logistics sector, you might wonder what working in logistics might entail. This heavily depends on your qualifications, background and mindset. As a warehouse logistics manager you will be controlling and maintaining stock. Additionally you will be responsible for training and managing the warehouse’s staff. For the more mathematically inclined, transportation analyst and logistics engineer are two roles which require you to develop and apply strategies for maintaining and moving inventory along supply chains. They aim to  improve the efficiency of a company’s supply chain and increase profit margins using smart software and mathematical tools.

Warehouse and haulage

Warehouse workers are also in high demand with companies offering financial incentives to new employees in an attempt to fill staff shortages. However, it is important to take into consideration the company you will be working for. Warehouse productivity standards and employee management systems vary from company to company. When these standards are tuned too high employees are pushed to work too fast, something that often leads to injury. Indeed, studies have shown that workers at some of the world’s largest ecommerce companies are injured at nearly twice the rate of those in the rest of the industry. With this in mind, make sure to do your research before applying to any company.

Between driver shortages and soaring gas prices the haulage industry is under great strain. Last year we saw a record deficit of 80,000 truck drivers in the US alone, significantly slowing the supply of goods across the country. In response, companies are scrambling to recruit new drivers by offering wage increases and sign-on bonuses as high as $10,000. While the threat of autonomous vehicles entering the haulage industry isn’t going to go away, we are many years away from them being an issue for the American trucker. This makes the job one of the most lucrative and stable in the industry over the coming decade.

The last few years have caused total upheaval to global supply chains with one crisis after another compounding the issue. Exacerbated by staffing shortage, we’re seeing the impacts in our grocery stores each day as shelves go empty. The climate is leaving companies in the logistics sector desperate to recruit making now the best time to consider a career within the industry.