Category: Supply Chain Trends and Insights
What to Expect When Working with a Supply Chain Recruiter
The time may come sometime in the near future for you to make a very important hire. That effort could best be left up to professionals who specialize in the specific duty of sourcing and placing candidates well qualified for the role you’re seeking to fill. Here are just a few things to expect when working with a recruiter. Working with a supply chain recruiter brings along with it some very unique duties and expectations which may not be familiar with people who haven’t engaged in this type of work before. Here’s a bit of a primer on what [...]
State of the Supply Chain Job Market: Labor Hoarding and Co-Sourcing
The supply chain labor market has been going through volatile changes and disruptions. Staffing has been a challenge at the front line and in professional ranks for the past two plus years. In the last six months, there have been signs that economic activity is slowing. Some spaces, including technology, have seen the beginnings of layoffs. This is what we would expect given history. To date, this type of activity has been less prevalent in Supply Chain jobs. So what is different about jobs in Supply Chain and will we see this continue? Supply Chain leaders are using different approaches and we will discuss a few of them. One such shifting dynamic is labor hoarding - an age-old term used to describe the retention of a company’s labor base during down economic times.
Podcast: Key Supply Chain Skills – with Mary Long, CEO of Abgility
Mary has multiple end-to-end executive supply chain roles and shares with us some of the critical soft and hard skills professionals and students need to succeed in supply chain careers.
Christmas is Canceled?! Supply Chain Impacts
Just when you thought the supply chain couldn’t get any worse, CHRISTMAS IS CANCELED!
Global Sourcing is the New Procurement
Unless you’re a supply chain professional, the word “procurement” means nothing more than buying something. Could be buying a watch or a nice bottle of wine. “Where will we procure our dinner from this evening?” But, the supply chain discipline presents an entirely new meaning and understanding for procurement. And that meaning and use is shifting even faster now with the constant flurry of supply chain disruptions and the need for stronger strategic and global sourcing practices.
Supply Chain Disruptions Ripple from War in Ukraine
As the 2nd quarter of 2022 approaches, the world continues to confront massive supply chain disruptions. Oddly, 2022 showed some promise of calm and stability in world markets. The latest Covid surge was slowing, allowing for production and manufacturing to return to normal in southeast Asia. American ports were finding relief in their previously heavily congested cargo bays and berths. The American economy continued adding jobs and surging ahead with strong earnings and low unemployment. The rest of the world started to echo these moves. And then a disruption that has threatened to crater these gains: War. Russia invades [...]
Podcast: Understanding the Total Picture of Supply Chain – with Office Depot Supply Chain Executive, Tray Anderson
Tray Anderson shares his passion for understanding the total picture of a supply chain and how his wide variety of companies and assignments have enabled that perspective.
Omicron and the Supply Chain
An already stressed supply chain labor pool Impacted by Covid19 The combination of lockdowns, shift in ecommerce buying habits fueled by government cash injections, an already depleted labor force, and production evolutions with real time issues like a Suez Canal blockage created a perfect storm of supply chain issues. Now, the world faces further issues due to omicron and the supply chain. Let’s start with the labor force. A US Census article from November 2020 forecasts a manufacturing labor shortage due to the average age of manufacturers being 55 and above. In 2015, two thirds of the US workforce [...]
Supply Chain Talent Shortage: The Downside of an Up Economy
There are few basic economic tenants that rarely need explanation. One such phenomenon is the principle of supply and demand. In the world of supply chain, we are seeing this principle play out across every sector of the industry. From trucking to shipping to ports to production and warehouses and to the people who manage all of the touchpoints, supply and demand has rarely, if ever, been more of an issue. As consumers’ purchasing power increases, so does the need to increase capacity in direct proportion to this change in consumer behavior. As executive supply chain recruiters, we’re seeing [...]
Top Warehouse Skills Sought After in Warehouse Managers
Possessing warehouse skills can offer lucrative internal promotions for warehouse operatives, in particular for those with the drive to advance their supply chain careers into warehouse management. Starting salaries are typically in the $60,000-$80,000 range for warehouse managers, and can spike into the mid-to-high $100K range for those that manage large and more complex warehouse facilities. Most companies prefer their management team to consist of experienced warehouse managers, oftentimes recruited externally, and staff who have been promoted up from the ground floor within the operations. This allows for a healthy balance between having fresh ideas and allowing operatives’ voices [...]
