Logistics Struggles to Attract Academic Talent

The initiative “Die Wirtschaftsmacher” and its university partners share the same goal: to inspire young people to pursue a career in logistics. Focusing on the academic sector – on students and prospective students – the initiative discussed this objective at the first “UniCamp” university workshop on April 19 at the CBS International Business School in Cologne. The results are intended to inform the future activities of Die Wirtschaftsmacher.

With the “UniCamp” on April 19, Die Wirtschaftsmacher held their first university workshop at the CBS International Business School in Cologne for exchanging ideas with the numerous academic partners of the initiative. The focus of the first meeting was on sharing experiences and best practices among university experts and marketing or human resources specialists, as well as specifically addressing the target group of skilled workers. Together, concrete strategies and measures were developed to help all partners motivate and mobilize young people, especially (potential) students, for logistics. Thus, the first UniCamp served as a kickoff for future closer cooperation, both between universities and within the framework of Die Wirtschaftsmacher.

Content, Channels, and Events for Logistics Degree Programs

What are universities already doing, and what can be contributed under the umbrella of Die Wirtschaftsmacher? Under these guiding questions, participants discussed possible activities in the categories of “Content,” “Channels & Formats,” and “Events.” The results include an initial selection of measures that participants will implement in collaboration with Die Wirtschaftsmacher.

A key focus is on publishing teaching and informational materials on the topic of logistics in education and careers. These materials are to be distributed purposefully to schools. Furthermore, the young target group is to be addressed via TikTok, possibly through influencers. Another area of work focuses on events for attracting young talent – with the aim of being able to offer new experience and event formats for (regional) implementation by the participants in the future.

Tackling the Skilled Labor Problem in Logistics Together

“Degree programs in the logistics context are unfortunately chosen too rarely despite the increasing demand for personnel due to competition with numerous other specialization options in studies. And this is not due to the actually very exciting content and career prospects,” comments Prof. Dr. Nils Finger, Professor of Supply Chain Management at CBS International Business School. “The UniCamp is an important new building block to jointly address the complex skilled labor problem in logistics and contribute to improving the external perception of our field and inspiring more talents for studies and careers in logistics.”

The academic partners represented included: Prof. Dr. Dirk Bruckmann from Hochschule Rhein-Waal, Prof. Dr. Nils Finger from CBS International Business School, Prof. Dr. Sebastian Herr from Hochschule Worms, Prof. Dr. Peter Holm from Provadis Hochschule Frankfurt, Prof. Dr. Thomas Krupp from Technische Hochschule Köln, Prof. Dr. Christian Menden from Technische Hochschule Würzburg-Schweinfurt, and Dr.-Ing. Christopher Reining from the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML. Other partners present included Frederic Markus from Zeitbild Verlag and Nisha Pillay from DHL Freight.

Valuable Suggestions Provided

The co-initiator of Die Wirtschaftsmacher, Jens Tosse, gave a positive summary of the first UniCamp: “Logistics faces at least as tough a challenge in the competition for academic talent as in non-academic professions. It requires joint efforts to connect young people with the opportunities and advantages of logistics. The first ‘UniCamp’ has provided valuable suggestions that we want to pursue together. Plans for a second, follow-up workshop are underway.”

Photo: © Die Wirtschaftsmacher / Image caption (l. to r.): Prof. Dr. Peter Holm (Provadis Hochschule), Uwe Berndt (Die Wirtschaftsmacher), Prof. Dr. Sebastian Herr (Hochschule Worms), Nisha Pillay (DHL Freight), Prof. Dr. Christian Menden (Technische Hochschule Würzburg-Schweinfurt), Jieying Luu (TH Köln), Dr.-Ing. Christopher Reining (Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML), Frederic Markus (Zeitbild), Prof. Dr. Dirk Bruckmann (Hochschule Rhein-Waal), Prof. Dr. Nils Finger (CBS International Business School), Dr. Daniel Bambach (Die Wirtschaftsmacher), Miriam Grieble (CBS International Business School), Jens Tosse