Counteracting the shortage of skilled workers with transport management
Numerous retirements, a lack of young talent, and a poor reputation as an attractive employer—the logistics industry has been struggling with a shortage of skilled workers for years. However, the use of new technologies offers a decisive lever: digital processes not only relieve the burden on employees, but can also make jobs exciting and future-proof. In this blog post, we show you how automated transport management can counteract the shortage of skilled workers.
A global, cross-industry problem
Whether you are a small business, a medium-sized company, or a large corporation, the shortage of skilled workers remains at a high level. According to a recent survey, 78 percent of Austrian companies now report that they are having problems filling their vacancies – in Germany, the figure is as high as 86 percent. This means that the shortage of skilled workers has more than doubled in both Austria and Germany within ten years and continues to pose major challenges for the global economy.
Unattractiveness of the transport and logistics industry
The transport and logistics industry is also suffering. The shortage of suitable young talent is not only noticeable in IT or warehousing: the declining number of professional drivers is a particular cause for concern for many companies. In Austria alone, there is a shortage of approximately 8,000 drivers, while in Germany the figure is between 45,000 and 60,000 per year. In addition, around 20 percent of currently active professional drivers will retire in the coming years. But it is not only demographic change that is causing problems for the industry: the lack of work-life balance, poor working conditions, physical strain, and relatively low salaries contribute to the overall negative image of the logistics industry and exacerbate the considerable shortage of qualified personnel.
Most companies have now responded and are already implementing various measures to attract young talent. First and foremost, employers need to become more attractive to applicants. This can be achieved, for example, by improving the working atmosphere, regulating working conditions, offering flexibility in everyday working life, providing opportunities for further training, and offering other benefits to employees.
The figure shows the proportion of affected companies in Germany between 2009 and 2024.
Automated processes to combat skills shortages
Another way to relieve the burden on companies and their long-term employees in times of skilled labor shortages is to digitize and automate processes. Repetitive tasks in particular are not only stressful for employees—they are also usually inefficient. By automating these processes, employees can take time for strategic, meaningful tasks, while faster workflows help counteract staff shortages. At the same time, jobs in the industry become significantly more attractive as monotonous tasks are reduced and new development opportunities are created.
Digitization and automation in the supply chain
There are numerous ways to comprehensively digitize logistics processes—for example, with transport management or warehouse management systems (TMS and WMS), cloud-based solutions, and artificial intelligence support. However, it makes sense to take a look at the entire supply chain management process in order to collect and analyze data and exchange it between suppliers and customers. This optimizes workflows and processes in such a way that costs can be reduced, potential for improvement identified, and customer satisfaction increased.
At S2data, we also take a holistic approach to transport planning, considering the entire supply chain and incorporating all relevant factors – our software solution does this using heuristic algorithms. It uses a wealth of data from existing IT systems, such as material procurement (MRP) or the existing TMS, but also from production or the warehouse, to calculate the optimal transport routes. Our AI-based software solution also automatically determines the ideal truck load, taking into account restrictions such as loading regulations, loading or unloading sequences, weight, and axle load. This means that the planned transports are not only fully utilized, but also always comply with applicable laws and safety regulations. Instead of manual, isolated planning, we rely on comprehensive data that enables holistic and simultaneous optimization of transport planning while increasing transparency throughout the entire supply chain.
This not only enables us to reduce transport costs and emissions, but also simplifies complex planning processes that previously required a great deal of time and expert knowledge, thereby reducing the workload of skilled workers in their day-to-day work. In concrete terms, this means that existing employees can handle a larger transport volume in the same amount of time as before because the S2data Platform saves them work steps. The automated processes also reduce the error rate caused by stress, overload, or a lack of professional experience among staff. In addition, new employees can be trained more quickly with the help of the software solution, as the S2data Platform makes decision-making easier for them. Last but not least, our software also enables the extensive knowledge of experienced, long-serving employees to be passed on to the next generation of skilled workers. The automated processes therefore directly contribute to the attractiveness of the industry by improving working conditions and increasing career opportunities. In addition, companies that use digital solutions present themselves as modern employers that attract more potential applicants.
Outlook: Relief for the entire economy
Overall, digitized, automated, and especially AI-based processes offer numerous opportunities to increase internal efficiency and counteract the shortage of skilled workers. Ultimately, however, it is not just individual companies that benefit from this. The shortage of skilled workers in the logistics industry is an overarching social problem that can have a significant impact on the entire economy. In the worst case, companies will no longer receive deliveries on time, production will come to a standstill, the supply chain will collapse, and shelves will remain empty. The need for a solution is therefore great. With the help of digitized processes, for example in holistic transport planning, it is possible not only to relieve the burden on employees, but also to save resources, optimize personnel planning, and make transport chains both more transparent and more resilient.