Logistics Managers may be in short supply before long

A new report has warned the global transportation and logistics industry (T&L) is in urgent need of a radical transformation by 2030 if it is to stay competitive.

In Winning the Talent Race, Volume 5 of PwC’s Transportation & Logistics 2030 series, experts said the brand perception of the industry needs re-invigorating and it is also seen as one of the most poorly paid and least diverse to work in.

PwC created 15 theses which were presented to a panel of 94 senior executives from 24 countries working in business, government and the scientific arena. Over the course of eight weeks they studied the hypothesis and were asked to assess the probability of each one on a scale of 0-100 percent.

“These findings are hugely significant for the T&L sector showing us what must be done before the industry falls into a critical state,” said PwC’s global T&L leader, Klaus-Dieter Ruske.

Poor image, poor pay and poor prospects are all perceptions that currently choke the industry. The reality is that there are rewarding, multinational opportunities out there that need tapping into.”

Panelists also predicted pay would continue to be low in the majority of jobs in comparison to other industries. In the UK for example, the average salary of someone in finance could be £51,620 but in T&L it’s £28,022 – 46 percent less. In the U.S., a worker in the electricity/energy sector could earn $65,150 on average, but in T&L this would drop to $43,400.

Klaus-Dieter Ruske came to some of the same conclusions drawn by scholars and executive recruiters participating in our annual Salary Survey:

“T&L companies need to take a critical view of their remuneration systems,” he said. “They should benchmark their salaries against their peers and other industries and recognize salary alone isn’t the only way to compensate employees.”