Filling the gender gap in logistics

In the transport and logistics industry, women hold only 17.9% of directorships. Moreover, only 15% of supply chain executives at the VP, EVP, and CPO levels are females, while merely 37% are women in the total supply chain workforce, and 25% of senior managers and directors are women. So why exactly is the number of women working in logistics still relatively low?

According to some studies, the main issue lies in the poor perception of career opportunities available in this sector. It is hard to escape the impression that most, if not all, logistics roles primarily involve driving a truck, moving containers, or lifting pallets when in reality, they range from engineering, analytics, and customer service to IT and management. In turn, this has worsened stereotypes regarding the ideal characteristics of a logistics industry worker, making it harder to remove the gender imbalance in this sector. 

Thus, industry organizations such as Women in Logistics and the more recently launched The Women in Aviation and Logistics Pledge are vital in promoting women. Their main goals are to encourage gender equality in the workforce and provide resources for both genders in the logistics, supply chain management, transportation, and technology industries. More and more logistics companies are being prompted to become much more diverse and inclusive, forcing a change in hiring policies and encouraging women to apply.

Another effective method may be adopting new working models with flexible working hours and open-minded management, developing careers for women workers, offering more leadership opportunities to those who are qualified, enhancing family-friendliness and work-life balance, publishing success stories of female employees in the logistics industry, and implementing effective retention methods to attract more female applicants.

Gender diversity is clearly an asset for many businesses since a balanced women representation in senior management positions allows them to be more competitive, innovative, and profitable. In fact, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO), companies with gender-inclusive cultures and equal employment opportunity policies are 60% more likely to see profit increase, greater creativity, enhanced reputation, and innovation. Moreover, boosting the representation of women in leadership teams and at the senior level allows companies to be more sustainable since women tend to prioritize social and environmental issues more.

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