We tell you about the profiles most in demand in today's logistics chain, from the most traditional to the most digitised positions
The logistics industry is positioned as a key employer muscle in Spain. To understand the relevance of the sector, it represents more than 10% of Spanish GDP and handles more than 500 million shipments per year. More than 1 million people work in the logistics industry, a figure driven by the growing logistics demand since the pandemic.
The boom in online shopping since 2020 has seen this consumer trend become firmly established. E-commerce exceeded €13 billion in the first quarter of 2021, 14% higher than in 2020.
"This boom has had a far-reaching influence on the growth of the logistics sector, which is reflected in employment," says the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC).
The huge penetration of technological innovations in the sector, such as Big Data, AI or Machine Learning - in order to optimise operations - made digital profiles the focus of many logistics companies.
Sometimes, finding highly qualified and technological profiles that also had knowledge of the sector became a challenge for logistics companies. In addition to this challenge, there is also the need to expand the workforce of more traditional profiles.
According to Miguel Mercado, director of Randstad, the skills that companies generally asked for in all the profiles were "management and organisational skills, good dealings with suppliers and the ability to lead".
In short, the demand for logistics positions has risen and, during 2022, will continue to increase to meet the needs of the current market. Within this demand, the most sought-after profiles are:
- Warehouse Manager: This is a key role for the smooth running of the supply chain, as it is responsible - among many other things - for managing the equipment, protecting it within the warehouse, leading the reception and dispatch of goods or controlling the inventory to break any stock out of stock.
- Sales Executive: Known as sales executive, this position is responsible for setting and meeting the company's sales targets, understanding the market and improving customer relations, among other essential functions for the logistics company.
- Warehouse worker: This profile is also essential for the smooth running of the supply chain, as they are in charge of receiving, storing and shipping goods to their place, checking the stock and controlling the quality of the goods in the warehouse.
- Forklift operator: The functions of forklift operators are usually to receive and place goods on pallets or platforms, load and unload them, transport them within the warehouse and, on occasion, carry out administrative tasks such as checking delivery notes and invoices.
- Stock manager: This profile can work in different stages of the supply chain, such as procurement, resource allocation, transport, warehousing, as well as stock management. This professional must be chameleon-like in order to detect problems that may arise with stock.
- Delivery man: They are responsible for delivering the goods from the warehouse to the assigned home or delivery point. They typically drive commercial vehicles of between 3.5 and 7.5 tonnes and can deliver all types of goods. This position is important because, as the final link in the supply chain, they have direct contact with the end user.
- Manipulator: Among the many functions that a handler can perform are receiving goods, sorting products into their locations, recording them in the inventory, taking inventory, sorting, sorting and sorting, and sorting and sorting. pickingand pack them and send them to the customer.
- Logistics technician: This position carries out the internal logistics management of the company, leads the work teams and supervises and optimises the transport of goods, studying and choosing the most efficient means of transport and the best commercial routes for the company.
In short, these are the logistics profiles that will be most in demand throughout 2022. The exponential growth of the sector will be accompanied during the year by an increase in both traditional and technological personnel.
