Lack of soft skills threatens air cargo industry growth

The growing complexity of the worldwide air cargo industry demands both staff and managers with more skills. Unless this is addressed, the industry may face a shortfall of managers who can continue the growth and development of this vital sector of the worldwide logistics industry.
This was the key finding of report published this month by a task force led by The International Air Cargo Association (Tiaca) with active participation from the International Air Transport Association (Iata) and the International Federation of Freight Forwarder Associations (Fiata)
The report found that these managers not only must possess the basic skills and operational knowledge, but be educated in soft skills including leadership, team building and creating and delivering attractive and informative presentations. “While numerous training programmes are available to teach the basic skills that are essential to industry, the availability of programmes that teach the higher-level, soft skills are limited,” the report found, noting that it is “imperative” that the industry as a whole address this deficiency and create a series of certificated and preferably accredited programmes. Without access to such programmes, the air cargo industry faces the possibility of finding it difficult to attract the required talent to guide the industry through the challenges of the future.