At the start of 2021, we saw the continuation of lockdown restrictions, furlough schemes and minimal change in the recruitment sector as businesses struggled to make ends meet. Fast forward a few months and the recruitment sector has never been busier, with employers in the logistics industry looking for the perfect talent and job seekers eager to find the right job.
However, not everything is as plain sailing as it may seem on the surface. The Coronavirus pandemic has left thousands of businesses without the facilities or investment behind them to acquire the right infrastructure to source, screen and ultimately hire candidates. Resulting in organisations and employers losing out on valuable candidates to larger competition.
What’s more, the UK job market is experiencing huge shifts with businesses now looking for new and unique ways to reduce the cost & time of hiring and candidates changing their outlook on job requirements. More and more prospects are realising job satisfaction and personal lifestyle needs are more important than previous job motivations such as salary and holiday packages, and therefore are becoming increasingly picky about the jobs they apply for.
The impacts on logistics and supply chains
National lockdowns and border closures restricting the movement of goods have caused a stir for transport & logistics firms. Essentials items like food and medical items have seen the biggest growth in demand, which has led to long delays and driver shortages as the industry struggles to meet its requirements.
On top of this, the lockdown has caused online sales to rocket in recent months leading to more and more employment opportunities rising within the supply chain and warehousing sector. In fact, the total of job adverts for the transport, logistics and warehouse sector has risen by a huge 131.6% during December 2020 compared to those in previous years.
Delivery firm Hermes is set to create more than 10,000 new UK jobs as it invests £100m to cope with demand following a huge spike in online shopping caused by the Coronavirus lockdown. They said they’re also preparing for “a massive Christmas season”, and expect to carry around 3.5m parcels a day during the period, nearly double last year!
Challenges faced by those trying to recruit in the logistics sector
The industry is facing major hiring challenges with the supply of labour for both skilled and unskilled workers. As a matter of fact, the recent Logistics UK’s Skills and Employment Report revealed that 79,000 members of the workforce have left the country in the past 12 months, leaving a significant skills gap, adding to a growing figure of around 76,000 HGV drivers needed to try to combat the shortage alone.
Coupled with the lack of skilled workers is the demand for attracting experienced candidates with a good understanding of the logistics industry. With restrictions on transporting goods and the added pressure of strict border controls, it’s providing warehouses and logistic companies with new challenges when it comes to moving goods using new recruits – especially when faced with twice their normal volume of deliveries.
The need to hire the right experienced candidates, who require minimal training and have knowledge of the process is being hugely important. Recruiters in the sector are turning to more advanced methods of talent attraction to fill these kinds of roles.
In addition to what has been said, a common theme amongst the logistics sector is the importance of reducing the time to hire. The need to improve efficiencies within businesses to boost competitiveness in a time full of opportunity could be considered one of the biggest challenges currently faced by organisations and companies to date.
Many firms are finding themselves needing roles filled quickly, but are struggling to find the best talent, quickly and efficiently. This is where tools such as our applicant tracking software solutions and intuitive onboarding services can make this process as efficient and successful as possible. Allowing you to regain traction, hire talent and meet the demands of your customers.
How we can help
We’re the market-leading supplier of innovative end-to-end recruitment solutions. We provide HR professionals, recruiters and hiring teams with innovative cloud-based technology aimed at streamlining their recruitment process, making it quicker and easier to recruit whilst significantly reducing the time and cost to hire.
As early pioneers of multi-job posting technology our expertise extends into candidate response management, CV comparing and scoring, search capabilities through to candidate onboarding and more.
Our involvement starts with the design and promotion of your career’s website. It is imperative that your careers page attracts the right kind of talent. It is also essential that your careers page promotes your brand and ethos and is also quick, secure, mobile compatible and has a seamless application process.
Our applicant tracking software system can cover everything a recruitment team could possibly need to hire directly from the initial job posting through to onboarding and everything in between. We uniquely design the solution for you and only include what you need. If you need something we don’t have – we will work with you to build the technology you need.
Some of our features and functions include; client branding, multi-posting, task management, SMS communication, onboarding, detailed and bespoke reports, second stage applicant forms.
If you’d like more information about our recruitment software services and solutions, click here. Alternatively get in touch and chat with a member of our team using our LIVE chat tool on our website.
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