The supply chain industry has a PR problem when it comes to attracting workers. "People think it's all truck drivers and forklift operators, but we need engineers and technicians," says Robyn Brunscher, educator at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Talent scarcity in the industry comes from several causes, Brunscher says. “For those of us that have been in the trade for quite some time, we went through a retirement phase. We also were part of the Great Resignation after COVID,” she says.

More than anything, it’s become apparent that the industry hasn’t taken a forward-looking approach when it comes to getting new entrants into the profession. “We had not invested in our young, in our youth, with regards to this industry enough,” Brunscher argues.

“In 2018, we were starting to recognize the bench not being as full as it should be,” she says. That was compounded by a failure to hold on to those that were 55 and older. “We still let them go, hoping that the backfill of young talent would come, and it did not.”

Another factor was the COVID-19 pandemic, and the strain that increased online shopping put on delivery operations.

“Our 3PLs were overwhelmed at the time that then compounded into last-mile delivery,” says Brunscher. COVID also revealed inadequacies in supporting technology. “COVID tested our systems, and our systems were not at par,” she says. “Silicon Valley is working on this, and you'll see more and more companies taking their homegrown software systems and putting them out to the market.”

Finally, sustainability is rising to the fore. “With those issues going on, what's happening is it's driving up the need not only for more employment, but different employment,” Brunscher says.