Logistics is a lifeline of a country’s economy as the two major sectors i.e. industrial and agriculture directly depend on the logistics infrastructure of the country. The logistics spend varies from sector to sector but can be as high as 20-30% of the total cost for the industrial commodities and 50% to 70% for agricultural produce.
The “non-existent” Logistics Talent Pool in India
A lot has been said and written about the talent pool in the logistics sector in India. Numerous reports and whitepapers have been published on the current skill gaps in this domain. National Skills Development Corporation (NSDC) has laid out a special focus on logistics skills development under a Public Private Partnership program. The logistics companies have begun to feel the pinch of the skills gap but yet they have not come forward to take stock of skills short in supply in the medium and long term. The Logistics Sector Skill Council for India, the starting point for preparing the roadmap for addressing the gap, is yet to be put in place.
“Skills for Logistics” – an initiative of UK- is a good example for how skills and productivity needs of logistics sector can be addressed. The council has developed the inventory of skills and competencies, called the Professional Development Stairway, mapped to various levels ranging from the blue collar to the leadership roles. The Stairway also lays down the training needed for career progression at each step. Last year, the council decided to set up national logistics skills academy with government funding.
The vocational training framework in India is largely driven by the ITIs (Industrial Training Institutes) and ITCs (Industrial Training Centres), covering skills ranging from Electrician, Welder, mason, Carpentry, Painting, and Catering etc. However, logistics skills have not found its place in the current setup because of its quasi-technical nature.
NSDC has estimated a need for 17-20 million logistics professionals by year 2022. The job roles ranging from drivers to individuals with specialized skills, such as, handling hazardous materials and cold chain are expected to be in high demand. However, there is no educational framework or adequate infrastructure to support this requirement. NSDC is largely a funding agency to support the skills development programs under Public Private Partnership, without expertise in defining the education framework.
The “non-existent” Logistics Talent Pool in India
A lot has been said and written about the talent pool in the logistics sector in India. Numerous reports and whitepapers have been published on the current skill gaps in this domain. National Skills Development Corporation (NSDC) has laid out a special focus on logistics skills development under a Public Private Partnership program. The logistics companies have begun to feel the pinch of the skills gap but yet they have not come forward to take stock of skills short in supply in the medium and long term. The Logistics Sector Skill Council for India, the starting point for preparing the roadmap for addressing the gap, is yet to be put in place.
“Skills for Logistics” – an initiative of UK- is a good example for how skills and productivity needs of logistics sector can be addressed. The council has developed the inventory of skills and competencies, called the Professional Development Stairway, mapped to various levels ranging from the blue collar to the leadership roles. The Stairway also lays down the training needed for career progression at each step. Last year, the council decided to set up national logistics skills academy with government funding.
The vocational training framework in India is largely driven by the ITIs (Industrial Training Institutes) and ITCs (Industrial Training Centres), covering skills ranging from Electrician, Welder, mason, Carpentry, Painting, and Catering etc. However, logistics skills have not found its place in the current setup because of its quasi-technical nature.
NSDC has estimated a need for 17-20 million logistics professionals by year 2022. The job roles ranging from drivers to individuals with specialized skills, such as, handling hazardous materials and cold chain are expected to be in high demand. However, there is no educational framework or adequate infrastructure to support this requirement. NSDC is largely a funding agency to support the skills development programs under Public Private Partnership, without expertise in defining the education framework.
The issue that needs to be addressed on the supply side is the lack of attractiveness of logistics as a career of choice. The logistics sector is believed to be labour intensive, lower paying and having more difficult working conditions compared to the other sectors such as sales, hospitality, IT etc. The lack of awareness about logistics as a career at the school and college level, and fewer institutions offering logistics courses in comparison to other professions are the key reasons for not being able to attract the right talent. In the past, not many logistics companies invested on training the employees requiring specialized skills. Most people in this sector have acquired these skills on the job through experience over time. There has not been a concerted effort to develop these employees and help them move up the career ladder.
The scenario has changed at a fast pace in the recent years. While cheap manpower is becoming a thing of the past, companies have started focusing on automation and efficiency that require people trained in logistics skills. It has been one of the prime reasons for the crying need for the skilled manpower in logistics. Also the entrance of multinationals in the logistics sector and emergence of organized retail has acted as catalysts in generating the demand.
Bridging the Logistics Skills Gap in India
This problem of the widening gap between the demand and supply of skilled manpower in logistics requires a multi-pronged approach.
1. Building awareness: The logistics sector is wrongly considered as a non-glamorous occupation. However, people with aptitude and flair for this field have found tremendous opportunities for career advancement. In order to build awareness, the industry, education providers and professional logistics organizations need to conduct seminars in colleges, road shows, workshops and events to popularize logistics as career of choice. Conducting career fairs at a regular frequency focused on the logistics sector and participated by the logistics companies and education providers would go a long way to build awareness.
2. Sector Skills Council: Establishing a Sector Skills Council to develop the inventory of logistics skills mapped to various job roles is the first step towards developing the skills development framework. Defining the competencies and career roadmap would help in laying down standards of education. NSDC has been actively seeking the participation of the logistics sector to form and contribute to the sector skills council.
3. Education and Training Standards: Developing standards would ensure consistency and quality of education and training aligned to the needs of the industry. NSDC can play an important role by bringing together the logistics players, NCVT (National Council for Vocational Training), UGC (University Grants Commission) and private training providers for development of standards of curriculum, content, trainers and accreditation.
4. Creating Training Infrastructure: Setting vocational skills centres for logistics requires substantial investment for placing the equipment e.g. forklifts, reach trucks, cranes, conveyors, simulators, RFID and barcode scanners, and creating a real life working environment for hands on training. Also these centres need to be strategically located not only closer to the logistics hubs but also to those locations where a large mobilisation of people is feasible as well. Funding supported by NSDC and VCs to the private training providers as well as extending the role of ITIs / ITCs to include logistics skills in their curriculum would help achieve this objective.
On the non-vocational side of logistics, UGC may introduce logistics as a specialization at graduate and post-graduate level across various universities. The private education providers, specialized in the logistics sector, can play a role of delivering these courses at the college level as well as driving placement of qualifying students in the industry.
The training and education framework should not be limited only to provide employment to the fresh students, but also to the entire career cycle of people employed in this sector for their career advancement. This shall be done by creating an industry approved flexible framework of multi-tiered qualifications and continuous learning programs.
5. Employment: Matching the availability of skilled resources and demand is as important as creating the training & education framework. Backing it up with the appropriate employment opportunities and career development is important for its success. A nodal agency to build a network of employers, staffing service providers and training providers, using online portal and skills registry would be a big step towards ensuring suitable employment for the trained students.
6. Technology: In order to scale up the training effort at a much faster pace as well as maintain consistency of delivery standard, the use of communication technology such as VSAT, Webex, e-Learning must be explored actively by the private education providers as well as government run institutes.
7. Funding: Last but not the least, availability of funding such initiatives at a large scale is the key enabler. Though NSDC is the key source as far as funding the vocational skills are concerned, however, a holistic approach towards the entire spectrum of job roles needs to applied. The education providers who can service the skill gaps at all levels, including vocational as well as white-collar jobs, are the ones who would be able to scale up this effort much faster and have a successful business proposition. Therefore, the private VC and PE funds with interests and mandate in the education space need to come forward and participate in the development of one of the fastest growing sectors.
Given the skill gap in this sector and business potential, we foresee many players jumping into the logistics education and training space. It will be a good development for the sector; however, the quality of education in the absence of any standard framework may be a big concern. We expect that the logistics players, reputed education providers and government accreditation agencies will come forward and take this initiative beyond the fragmented solution to this problem.
