‘Hiring back on the agenda for transport By Ed Richardson companies’

Hiring is back on the agenda for most companies in the transport and logistics sector, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) global leader on transport and logistics, Klaus-Dieter Ruske, “In our 14th Global Annual CEO survey we found that 55% of CEOs in the transport and logistics sector planned to increase their headcount in the coming 12 months, whereas only 34% reported that their companies had increased the headcount in the previous year.” At least 65% of CEOs say the supply of skilled candidates is limited. “Within transport and logistics the shortages vary across subsectors and regions. There is a major shortage of truck drivers across the world, for example,” says Ruske. The same applies to airline pilots. He says finding ways to attract young people to the industry will be crucial in the next few years. “It is the big question: how does the industry attract young people? Marketing is going to become very important as well as initiatives at schools and universities.” Ruske says while CEOs in the sector are very proactive – some 43% plan to make “a major change” to their strategies for managing talent, compared to 31% of the total sample surveyed – talent shortages are critical.