FIT: What are the primary goals and objectives of the Generation Logistics initiative?
BW: The overriding aim of Generation Logistics is to increase awareness of logistics and get more people considering it as a career of choice. By raising awareness, we can find the next generation of logistics talent and we want to make sure the logistics sector is seen as a profession of choice for talented, diverse and skilled people.
The need to increase diversity is also critical to the profession’s future. At the moment, there is a disproportionately high prevalence of older men, which has the potential to create major challenges because they are likely to retire at around the same time. The median age of an HGV driver is 55, and a recent LMI for All report found that almost half of the workforce is set to retire by 2027. Obviously, logistics is more than HGV drivers, but it is a good illustration of why intervention is required and why we need to attract a broader range of people into the sector.
Any industry that fails to recruit from the entire population is more likely to run into labour shortages so, on purely practical grounds, it makes sense to increase diversity by recruiting from a wider range of backgrounds.
FIT: The first year of the campaign focused on raising awareness and improving perceptions of the logistics sector. How has this been achieved and how successful has it proved to be?
BW: A key part of the campaign has been to raise awareness among young people, so we have concentrated on using ‘non-traditional’ communication channels - something which is quite unusual for the logistics sector. The numbers have been very impressive and in the first ten months of the campaign we have generated almost 600,000 visits to the Generation Logistics Hub, and over three million engagements on social media such as TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook.
We have designed the campaign to be a fully integrated communication programme so, alongside the digital elements, we have also generated significant press coverage. In addition, we have provided sponsors with the opportunity to meet key stakeholders through events, such as the Parliamentary Reception we held earlier in the year.
Another key milestone we achieved was securing Year Two support from the Department for Transport. The DfT can see the impact the campaign is having and, when Transport Secretary Mark Harper announced £300,000 funding for the second year, he described it as “a down payment on the workforce of the future”.
FIT: The logistics industry is evolving rapidly. How does the initiative aim to address the challenges and opportunities this presents?
BW: The creative force behind the campaign has been to highlight the varied roles that exist in the sector and show how careers extend much further than expected logistics functions like driving an HGV or working in a warehouse.We rely heavily on using case studies of individuals working in the sector. This approach comes into its own when we look at the content we have created for our social media channels. The videos and social media posts resonate with the target audience as they can identify with the people who are discussing their careers. Our mantra is to find the next generation of logistics professionals by promoting real people, doing real jobs, with real passion.
On the Generation Logistics Hub, we have identified several ‘job families’ and, alongside the more obvious logistics roles like transportation and warehousing, we provide details on roles that cover the environment, sustainability, digital tech, solution design, marketing, finance and more. Sometimes it sounds a bit of a cliché, but there really is a role for everyone in logistics and this is the driving force behind the campaign.
FIT: How has the initiative promoted the innovation and technological advancements taking place within the logistics sector?
BW: We look to exploit all opportunities to get our message across and regularly generate interest around other national days and events. For example, the recent AI Appreciation Day was the perfect opportunity to highlight how AI and machine learning is used to improve efficiency.
Next year, we will be focusing on raising awareness among educators by using logistics concepts and examples to develop classroom resources for STEM subjects, launch Generation Logistics Week and more. Integrating logistics with STEM ensures that the campaign is speaking the same language as educators and aligns subjects such as Maths with professions such as Data Analyst, that our sector so desperately needs.
FIT: The campaign’s second year is expected to focus on raising the profile of logistics in schools and colleges by supporting educators with resources and materials. How do you plan to do this?
BW: Focusing on raising the profile of logistics in schools and colleges does present challenges, not least that logistics is not currently featured on many curricula, but we will be partnering with world-leading education providers who have the experience and relationships to enable us to talk directly to the educators. We will also make sure that the resources we generate are high quality and accurately mapped to the curriculum so teachers can use them effectively.
Because logistics touches so many areas of the curriculum we will be able to provide high quality teaching resources for teachers to use across all STEM subjects.In Year Two, we will also be launching a Generation Logistics Week that will feature activities and events produced in collaboration with stakeholders from across the sector.
It will be a great opportunity for the profession to showcase the careers that exist and show why they are essential to guarantee the resilience of the UK’s supply chains. Watch this space!
For more information about Generation Logistics, please visit: https://generationlogistics.org