A lost generation?
June 1st 2010 Transport is a huge employer with an ageing workforce but replenishing personnel in an environment of spending cuts is a huge challenge says Geoff Dossetter
The other day I was reading an interesting new report from Skills for Logistics. Its Sector Skills Assessment report told me that the freight logistics industry employs 2.3 million people, a massive 8 per cent of the total workforce.What’s more, by 2017 a return to economic growth should mean that we need almost 850,000 more.
Perhaps you will not be surprised to learn that 73 per cent of the current work force is male. You may even be aware that 41 per cent are over the age of 45 with the average age of drivers into the 50s. But the figure that startled me most was the revelation that only 10 per cent are under the age of 25.Why is it that our essential, increasingly high-tech, and dynamic industry does not pull in more young recruits, even at a time of relative difficulty for the economy?
And then I listened to a frightening speech by the chief executive of FirstGroup, Sir Moir Lockhead, just prior to his inauguration as president of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.
As a highly successful manager, as well as a humane employer, Sir Moir had taken a practical look at the costs of youth unemployment. He found that it amounts to something over £10 million every day – over £3.5 billion per year. Add to that the cost of the job seekers allowance at £20 million per week. And then pitch in an extra, say, £1 billion per year in youth crime – ‘the devil makes work for idle hands’ as Sir Moir put it.
In February 2010 unemployment for 18 to 24 year olds amounted to over 17 per cent. For 16 to 17 year olds it was worse still – 35 per cent. An appalling one in three school leavers out of work.
On the face of it the answer to such employment problems for the transport sector ought to be easy. The industry is vital and enormous and needs a constant stream of workers. It has an increasingly ageing work force. There is severe youth unemployment. Put all of that together and the problem solves itself. Only it doesn’t. Transport operators are no more able to afford to be philanthropic in their human resources policies than any other sector. In the process of chasing efficient and economic operations and making profits, or at least minimising losses, they are obliged to take advantage of the ready bank of experienced and smart personnel currently on their books. The whole economy is just beginning to come out of a nasty recession and is not there yet. There is the fear, maybe the actuality, of a slip back into recession and all of the problems which that would bring.
So, the argument no doubt goes, maybe now is not the best time to speculate and invest in the employment of school leavers and fresh graduates with all of the costs of training them, bringing them on and accepting limited contributions until they know what they are doing etc. Wait awhile might not be an unreasonable response – let’s make do with what we have got for the moment.
The trouble is that in transport we are in danger of putting off this essential replenishment of skills and personnel for too long. There is always an excuse for not doing it.
Age profile of transport industry
The big fear Sir Moir has is that we, all of us as a nation, are in danger of creating a ‘lost generation’ of unemployed youngsters while we wrestle with recession, the economy and the deficit. And, of course, he is right. But this is not just a social issue. In transport the problem is exaggerated by the fact that we have this unfortunate age profile with an inadequate number of younger people able to replace their elders.
Whether we like it or not we simply have to act.We must not regard youngsters as a no-return waste of our precious resources but as an essential investment in tomorrow’s operations. Apprenticeships are back in fashion and highly regarded by those enlightened employers who are operating them. Perhaps, notwithstanding the dreaded cuts, the Government can be persuaded to help out with a bit of like-for-like support as per the old YTS schemes.We should increase our links with schools and colleges.We should be pointing potential recruits towards training opportunities and the funding available for them.
And, whisper it, maybe individual operators should take a flier and express some confidence in the prospects for their company over the next decade by taking on some extra school leavers. On second thoughts don’t whisper it. Shout it.Maybe it’s not a case of can we afford to? More like, can we afford not to? More articles from Handling & Storage Solutions: | 
