Analyst Insight: In the post-COVID era, concerns about labor shortages and skills gaps in supply chains appear in the news more and more frequently. From sourcing to logistics and last-mile distribution, skills and labor shortages have become key challenges for most companies. Digitization, AI and robotization help alleviate some of the pressures, but the irony is that there are also gaps and skills shortages in these domains.

In the project ReSChape, we analysed 250 job advertisements collected in 2024 from online job portals in the U.K., Italy, and Germany. We identified a total of 70 skills that employers seek. We also analyzed the curricula of three university undergraduate supply chain programs from those countries by comparing the skills and competencies provided in university education, with the skills identified from the job advertisement analysis.

Our job advert analysis identified the following skill categories:

General management skills (13 skills). This category includes skills such as performance management, project management, legal knowledge and report preparation. Particular attention is paid to performance management, a skill sought in the top 10 overall, especially for managing multi-tiered and multinational supply chains.

Personal traits (25 skills). This is the most-mentioned skills category. Organizational, time management and planning skills are the most emphasized. Analytical and problem-solving skills are also in the top 10 overall skills. These skills are significant in dealing with potential disruptions and handling crises that occur more frequently than ever.

Interpersonal skills (6 skills). These skills include communication, teamwork/collaboration, and people management/leadership, all of which are in the top 10 most-desired skills overall. As a mixture of communication and collaboration, interdepartmental communication skills are also highlighted in the job adverts, which would be essential while designing complex supply chains.

Functional skills (19 skills). These skills are supply chain-specific, such as procurement and inventory management. Along with these skills, supplier management and order management are being sought to help companies manage their multi-tier supply chains. In light of recent supply chain disruptions, employers increasingly prioritize supply chain risk management and statistical forecasting.

Digital skills (7 skills). Employers seek employees who can use various supply chain-specific tools and software. In addition to supply chain tools, they expect knowledge of analytical tools and software such as SQL, Python, PowerBI, and advanced MS Excel. In addition, as remote and hybrid job opportunities started to appear post-COVID, proficiency in online communication tools such as video conferencing, emailing and collaboration workspaces became increasingly important.

Curriculum Analysis 

The university curriculum comparison analysis revealed a strong focus on enhancing students’ traits, such as data-driven analysis capabilities, analytical thinking, decision-making and problem-solving skills. This focus is nicely aligned with the job adverts, as personal traits are the most mentioned skill category. However, our analysis showed a notable gap in the emphasis on digital skills which are increasingly sought after in the industry, yet insufficiently covered in the current academic syllabi.

Outlook: Universities should consider innovative approaches to their course offerings by integrating rapidly evolving digital skills. Moreover, the intensity of industry collaboration could be increased while designing curricula to reduce the skills mismatch. Creating agile, integrated and technology-oriented university curriculums is vital in developing supply chain graduates with the right skillsets to ensure resilient supply chains.

Resource Link: www.reschape.eu