The role of young people in logistics
Speaking at a parliamentary reception to highlight the role of young people in logistics as part of National Apprenticeship Week, Minister Opperman praised the collaborative work of businesses from across the sector in working alongside government to achieve real changes in attitude. As he noted, the public-private partnership has driven the campaign to achieve significant increases in awareness across the target audience.
“Generation Logistics is a groundbreaking campaign which is changing the way the public thinks about roles in the logistics sector,” he said. “A resilient supply chain is critical for growing the economy and that’s why we’re working to ensure logistics has a strong talent flow to keep goods moving.
“I’m thrilled to be working alongside industry partners to effect genuine changes in attitudes about such a critical sector for the UK’s economy. We look forward to helping to further educate the public and young people on the exciting variety of opportunities available in the logistics sector, building more resilience into the workforce and keeping our economy growing.”
The Minister was speaking at a celebratory event to mark the success of the first year of the campaign, held during National Apprenticeship Week, attended by more than 150 representatives of more than 50 companies and trade associations from across the logistics sector that support the campaign. During the event, the Minister also had the opportunity to talk to several Generation Logistics ambassadors who presented their own experiences to the audience – young people working in the industry who are engaged in talking directly to potential employees in schools and colleges about the opportunities a career in logistics can offer.
Careers guide
The event also saw the launch of the latest Generation Logistics careers guide, which has been prepared to provide advice and guidance for teachers and careers advisers who themselves are often unfamiliar with logistics as a profession.
“Logistics is an untapped area for many teachers and careers advisers,” says Bethany Windsor, Programme Director for the campaign, “yet the depth and breadth of opportunities on offer for young people seeking a fulfilling career at all levels is second to none. “The outreach of the Generation Logistics campaign has been incredible to date, driving awareness of the sector among its target audiences up by 11% and improving the positive perceptions of working in the sector by 140%, in only its first year.
“During second year of our campaign, we are focusing on extending our messaging to the educators with our new careers guide as well as working with renowned education and career support provider STEM Learning, to place logistics alongside the curriculum for the first time. With the support of our amazing sponsors and energetic ambassadors, we are confident that we will take the campaign to even great heights in 2024 and beyond, establishing logistics as the “must do” career for young people right across the economy.”