Talent management, together with digitization and sustainability, will be one of the central themes of the 22nd edition of the Barcelona International Logistics Exhibition (SIL Barcelona), the leading trade fair for logistics, transport, intralogistics and supply chain from southern Europe organized by the Consorci de la Zona Franca at the Fira de Barcelona between May 31 and June 2.
As a meeting prior to the celebration of SIL Barcelona, Dialogues at La Vanguardia brought together various key players in the sector in a debate held at the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona to address the challenges of logistics when it comes to attracting professionals qualified you require. The sector needs increasingly more technological profiles, since it is in a moment of full growth and transformation, due to the accelerated digitization due to the pandemic and its firm commitment to sustainability “If something has worked well during the pandemic , that has been the logistics”, recalled in his words of welcome the special delegate of the State in the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona and president of the SIL, Pere Navarro, co-host of the event together with the deputy director of La Vanguardia, Enric Sierra . The debate featured speeches by the General Director of the Consorci de la Zona Franca and SIL, Blanca Sorigué; the CEO of Huchison Port BEST, Guillermo Bel castro; the general manager of Alfil Logístics, Jaume Bonavia; the president of the Port of Barcelona, Damià Calvet; the Sales Manager of ViiA, Miguel de Sanjuán, and the coordinator of the Observatori de l’FP of the Fundació BCN Formació Porfessional, Àngel Tarriño. This economic sector has difficulties in finding and attracting new talent, despite being a dynamic sector, which represents 14.4% of GDP according to data from the Cimalsa Logistics Observatory, the public company of the Generalitat de Catalunya in charge of promotion, development and management of infrastructures and centers for freight transport and logistics.
“Never before has logistics had so much focus. If we want to attract talent, this is the perfect time, because the pandemic has triggered electronic commerce”, highlights the CEO of Hutchison Port BEST. Guillermo Belcastro notes that "there is a process in which old practices are being transformed into new practices, through greater transparency, digitization and sustainability, in order to attract talent and start-ups, focusing on a future that goes through collaboration, which requires new and diverse knowledge”.
Barcelona has the "privilege of being located in the center of the logistics crossroads and, in turn, has a cluster made up of axes such as the port, the airport, the Zona Franca or Mercabarna in just a few square kilometres," says Guillermo Belcastro, who describes it as unique in southern Europe. “The sum of a metropolitan region with an industrial fabric such as Barcelona, its location and infrastructure is what makes us unique”, adds the special delegate of the State in the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona and president of SIL , Pedro Navarro.
The president of the Port of Barcelona, Damià Calvet, agrees in pointing out the strategic place that Barcelona occupies as a logistics hub. In addition to being in full growth, logistics "more and more is demanded", in terms of speed of delivery and specialization. The sector generates “one job for every 100 square meters of logistics warehouse built”, he underlines. However, Calvet acknowledges that meeting this growing demand for employment is not easy, due to "certain perceptions that society has about the sector, including that it pollutes or does not provide added value". This image, in his opinion, “must be able to be reversed”, making visible the reality of the sector. "Logistics is digitized and embraces the values of sustainability to add value to people's lives," he clarifies.
One of the ways to attract talent and support the digital and sustainable transformation of logistics is to promote training, highlights the president of the Port of Barcelona. As a novelty, Calvet announces that the Port, in collaboration with other public and private actors, has laid the seed of what will become the Logistics Institute, which will train 600 new professionals each year. The training center specializing in logistics will open its doors in September at the World Trade Center, to be permanently located in 2025 at the new knowledge, innovation and training hub that the Port of Barcelona will develop at the Sant Bertran wharf . “Historically, logistics has had an irregular and scattered training. Now we are making an effort to homogenize and locate the logistics studies where the activity takes place, in close contact with the hub represented by the Port of Barcelona, the Zona Franca Consortium, Merca Barna and the airport”, celebrates Damià Calvet .
The needs for talent have been evolving “exponentially towards a diversification of profiles” due to the fact that logistics is “increasingly transversal” and requires professionals specialized in various fields related to sustainability and digitization such as intelligence artificial, blockchain or robotics, notes the coordinator of the FP Observatory of the Fundació BCN Formació Professional, Àngel Tarriño. "There is talent, but it must be attracted through a closer relationship between the sector and training centers," he claims. AND
he CEO of Alfil Logistics, Jaume Bonavia, considers that talent management in logistics is at a "complex" moment. Logistics must be given more visibility, which must be more present, with more force and voice, in the company's management committees. "Logistics needs more marketing at all levels, since there is not enough visibility of everything that is done so that the goods of any product are in the place and form when they are required."
In the field of talent management in transport, Bonavia distinguishes between the last mile with the most physical part of delivery and the transport activity that requires more than 500,000 drivers throughout Europe that requires joint measures with the administration to "offer incentives for young people to enter the sector”.
The attraction of talent for the logistics sector is an "achievable challenge", values Miguel de Sanjuán, Sales Manager of ViiA. To achieve this, the expert believes it is necessary to "give social value to the sector through a clear commitment to intermodality". De Sanjuán adds to the debate that the labor context left by the pandemic has accentuated phenomena such as the so-called "great resignation", which describes the decision of some people to quit their job, tired of the stress it causes them. “From this great resignation, a great relocation could be born, which represents an opportunity to attract talent to the logistics sector, which must be shown in a more attractive way and offer good working conditions, including remuneration,” he warns.
In order to attract these new professionals, the logistics sector must be "seductive", remembering that logistics and its companies have a purpose, to "be part of the solution to social problems", through sustainability and digitization, The general director of the Consorci de la Zona Franca and SIL, Blanca Sorigué, agrees. Attracting young and female talent is one of the biggest challenges for this sector, which is "in full growth," she points out.
"Talent is at the center of sustainability and innovation 4.0, with specialized profiles such as experts in artificial intelligence, machine learning or blockchain", specifies Blanca Sorigué, who also anticipates that more than one hundred start-ups selected to present their "disruptions in the supply chain to continue transforming the sector". This communication between entrepreneurs and large traditional companies in the sector is "very important" to develop talent. In addition, the general director of the Consorci de la Zona Franca highlights that the SIL is one of the few international fairs in which its visitors "can leave with a work contract".
“Logistics is an essential activity, with an immense diversity of professional profiles. If someone wants to dedicate himself to it, he has a job immediately. And SIL is the ideal place. It is time for logistics”, concludes the special delegate of the State in the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona and president of the SIL, Pere Navarro, to end the meeting.
4
