‘Just go for it!’

‘What does Generation Z think of a freight forwarding company?’ Lucas Fischer, founder of the digital agency for employee recruitment TransLog Marketing, had a clear answer to moderator Mareike Haus's opening question: ‘Nothing at all. They have no image, no connection, no idea whatever!’ So there was a lot to discuss at the event ‘Looking for young talent: Strategies to combat the shortage of trainees and skilled workers in logistics on the last day of transport logistic.

Background: After the training market recovered somewhat from the severe losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic in recent years, training activity has recently stagnated again. Companies in the freight forwarding and logistics sector traditionally have difficulty attracting young talent. According to Fischer, they compete primarily with industries such as nursing, skilled trades and retail. Although these are professions that could hardly be more diverse and promising, the latest figures from the German Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) are sobering: the number of new training contracts for freight forwarding clerks fell by almost nine percent last year, and the number of prospective professional drivers fell by as much as twelve percent.

How can small and medium-sized enterprises in particular get the current Generation Z and the next Generation Alpha excited about a career in logistics again? What role do social media and digitalisation play in this? And what do companies need to bear in mind in order to not only find urgently needed trainees, but also retain them in the long term? Roland Rüdinger, managing director at Rüdinger Spedition in Krautheim (Baden-Württemberg), had a refreshing strategy ready for these list of questions. ‘We have advertising columns on our trucks that we can use to promote training with us. We also have our own bus company with school buses, which we also use to advertise our company – this allows us to literally pick up potential trainees on their way to school.‘

‘Good food is important’

Rüdinger also relies on traditional open days, which he calls ’experience days‘: ’Good food is important and a significant part of the experience,’ said Rüdinger with a smile. Children and young people are often ‘hopelessly overwhelmed’ when it comes to choosing a career, which is why we always invite parents and grandparents as their most important advisors. Tours of the warehouse, where young visitors can see regional products with high recognition value, and truck rides are particularly popular – ‘the boys especially love them!’ As a result, around half of the applicants at Rüdinger ‘have already been here and know us.’

Volker Kindler, Head of Human Resources at the Geis Group, also thinks highly of the analogue approach taken by his freight forwarding colleague Rüdinger. ‘However, we are many times larger, with around 40 locations, 25 of which offer training. So we have to present the entire company, even decentralised across all locations.’ TikTok plays a very important role in this: ‘We let our trainees do it. Not entirely on their own, though; we support them and provide a framework.’

This social media channel has also won over Laura Witzmann, a trainee at the Geis Group: ‘I initially started training as a hotel manager, but I wasn't happy with it at all. So after a year, I changed my mind and came across the Geis Group.’ At first, Witzmann wanted to start training as an office clerk. ‘But after I learned that nothing works without us freight forwarders, which many people don't even know, I was so enthusiastic that I spontaneously changed my mind and started training as a freight forwarding clerk.’ With success: Laura Witzmann came second in the renowned best trainee competition organised by magazine Verkehrsrundschau  and is now about to complete her training.

Back to TikTok – the channel that, according to agency head Fischer, is the best way to reach Generation Z, and how it is easiest to use: ‘Turn on the camera, just point it at them and let the trainees talk about what makes their job so exciting. This way, your own trainees become the best corporate influencers.’ (bo)