Solving the sector’s skills shortage
Feature
As logistics evolves to encompass decarbonisation, automation and new technology, Generation Logistics is showing young people that the sector offers more than they imagined. Bethany Windsor of Logistics UK highlights how the campaign is reshaping perceptions, inspiring future talent—and why long-term industry support is crucial to keep momentum building
Generation Logistics, the award-winning cross-industry awareness campaign to build interest in careers in the sector, continues to challenge young people’s preconceptions.
The second Generation Logistics Week in June 2025 offered virtual careers advice and guidance alongside panels with sector experts and social media awareness to encourage the next generation of logistics professionals.
With our third year of activity still ongoing, the outreach figures for the campaign are staggering – in our first two years, over 1.673 billion opportunities to see messages about logistics careers were created for the programme’s 13-24 year old target audience. Over the past two years, we have raised awareness of our sector by 37 per cent and improved the way young people think about our career opportunities by 212 per cent. And, along the way, we have proved that, by targeting our potential audience in the places that they frequent – social media, outdoor opportunities via advertising and the like – we can encourage them to rethink their career options.
So far, our efforts have been recognised with 14 awards for our innovation and comprehensive focus on the job at hand. However, to make logistics roles as appealing as those in other sectors like healthcare and retail, we need to ensure that every single student and educator is aware of what we do and the opportunities that our sector offers – and that will take time. Meanwhile, other sectors are also competing with us to attract their own next generation of workers.
An evolving industry
Logistics still has an ageing workforce, and our skills shortage is still far from gone. To ensure the long-term success of the sector, we need to futureproof our workforce by continuing to demonstrate the breadth of the careers on offer and show how logistics is offering the well-paid roles that use the technology young people seek to work with. We all know that decarbonisation is creating challenges for operators, but this also means opportunities for development and growth for those with different, non-traditional skills that our sector has not needed up to now. Automation will also revolutionise the types of roles on offer, reshaping the workforce of tomorrow into a different beast from the jobs currently being advertised and creating real opportunity for the next generation.
To deliver the candidates that our sector will need in the future, it is imperative that we continue to showcase the skills of those young people already carving out their careers in logistics. We are incredibly grateful to the 40+ sponsoring businesses who have supported Generation Logistics thus far, as well as the young people who act as our ambassadors, sharing their experiences and knowledge with young people and their educators to encourage and excite them about the opportunities that logistics offers.
It is vital that we continue to reshape the way the general public thinks about the sector if we are to ensure that skills shortages become a thing of the past. Two years’ work will not address our long term recruitment issues: after all, without the light shone on our work by the pandemic, how many people would even think about where pasta or toilet rolls come from?
More support needed
We are committed to expanding awareness and interaction with our target audience during our fourth year of activity, starting in January 2026. However, we can only deliver on our promises if we have the support of the whole sector – for the long haul – to re-educate young people to see the value and opportunity that careers in logistics can offer them. Supported by the sector, if we continue to press home the amazing employment options that our sector presents, we should be able to futureproof our workforce for the long term.
That is where our sponsors come in. Their support is vital if we are to make significant inroads into future recruitment patterns. It is not about vacancies today (although those are, of course, important to address). Our focus must continue to be on the long-term picture, attracting and retaining those passionate about the profession, with the most up-to-date skill set to ensure that logistics businesses of the future can call on the talent they need when they need it. The prospectus for our fourth year sponsors will be available shortly and I would urge all businesses in the sector to join us as soon as possible: without the ability to continue on our mission to make logistics the career on everyone’s lips, we run the risk that we will face another, more significant skills shortage in years to come. We owe it to our profession to keep the pressure on and build a strong and cohesive awareness of the vast opportunities that our sector has to offer.
Sponsorship opportunities for the fourth year of the campaign, which starts in January 2026, will open soon: to register an interest in becoming a supporter of this sector-leading, award-winning campaign, please email generationlogistics@logistics.org.uk.
