Publication: Logistics Competencies, Skills, and Training: A Global Overview
Loading...
Files in English
18,184 downloads
Published
2017-08-10
ISSN
Date
2017-08-10
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Despite the spread of automation and new supply chain management paradigms, logistics remains dependent on a rather specific set of skills and competencies, whether for managerial, administrative, or blue-collar jobs, such as trucking or warehousing. This dependence implies that the logistical performance of businesses, industries, and nation states is strongly influenced by the quantity and quality of the workforce. Insufficient resources of a competent and properly trained workforce in logistics adversely affect the quality of service, reduce productivity in sectors dependent on logistics, and ultimately reduce trade competitiveness. While other interventions that affect logistics performance—such as international infrastructures, trade corridors, regulations, and services—have already been reviewed extensively, this report is the first to cover the contributions of human resources and explore how to develop skills and improve competencies, especially in developing countries. The study proposes a framework for the skills needed according to the logistics activity (such as transportation or warehousing) or the type and level of responsibility. Based on several sources, including recent surveys carried out by the World Bank and the Kühne Logistics University, the report uncovers where the skills constraints are according to the type of job or countries. Findings include that logistics is an industry struggling to hire skilled workers, although with differences between developed countries (where trucker shortages are more acute) and developing economies (where managerial shortages are more widespread). Typically, blue-collar logistics jobs have lower status and lower pay than blue-collar jobs in other industries; they are thus less attractive for skilled workers. In developing countries with a potentially available workforce, lack of vocational preparation for careers in logistics means that less-skilled workers are not easily re-skilled. Logistics tasks at the upper end of the occupational hierarchy and those with high information technology content often require an upskilling of employees to keep pace with new technology. Yet the problem is not confined to recruitment. The surveys point to limited resources, money, and staff time allocated to training, especially in developing countries. Realizing the promise of quality jobs from the growth of logistics worldwide requires a coordinated effort by logistics companies, professional associations, training providers, and policy makers. Through a combination of facilitation, regulation, advice, financial instruments, and land use planning, governments can exert significant influence.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“McKinnon, Alan; Flöthmann, Christoph; Hoberg, Kai; Busch, Christina. 2017. Logistics Competencies, Skills, and Training: A Global Overview. World Bank Studies;. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/27723 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Connecting to Compete 2014 : Trade Logistics in the Global Economy--The Logistics Performance Index and Its Indicators(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014)Improving logistics performance is at the core of the economic growth and competitiveness agenda. Policymakers globally recognize the logistics sector as one of their key pillars for development. Trade powerhouses in Europe like the Netherlands or in developing countries like Vietnam or Indonesia see seamless and sustainable logistics as an engine of growth and of integration with global value chains. Indeed, inefficient logistics raises the costs of trading and reduces the potential for global integration. This is a hefty burden for developing countries trying to compete in the global marketplace. Since 2007, the Logistics PerformancePublication Connecting to Compete 2016(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-06-28)The LPI has provided valuable information for policy makers, traders, and other stakeholders, including researchers and academics, on the role of logistics for growth and the policies needed to support logistics in areas such as infrastructure planning, service provision, and crossborder trade and transport facilitation. The results of Connecting to Compete 2016 point to Germany as the best performing country, with an LPI score of 4.23, and Syria as the lowest, with a score of 1.60 (equivalent to 19 percent of Germany’s score on a scale from 1 to 5). The converging trend between the top and worst performers that appeared in the previous LPI surveys (2007, 2010, 2012, and 2014) seems to have slightly reversed. The average scores in each quintile reveal that the gap between the top 2 quintiles and the countries at the bottom in performance is widening again.Publication Transport and Logistics in Djibouti : Contribution to Job Creation and Economic Diversification(Washington, DC, 2013-02)The objective of this policy note is: (i) assessing the current situation of the transport and logistics sector in Djibouti, in particular regarding employment; (ii) examining the potential of the sector for creating jobs and generating new activities; and (iii) analyzing the constraints and making recommendations to alleviate. The note is divided into three chapters: (1) a diagnosis of transport and logistics; (2) opportunities and strategic priorities for the future; and (3) a suggested action plan. This policy note deals with transport and logistics and provides key input to the Djibouti New Growth Model study. The note relies on the findings of the World Bank mission that visited Djibouti in January 2012 to collect data and interview various representatives of the public and private sectors, as well as on a literature review. The note concludes that transport and logistics have a relatively limited potential for reducing unemployment since port activities are capital-intensive; the trucking industry serving the corridor to Ethiopia is totally dominated by Ethiopians; and the ongoing improvement of the supply chain s efficiency tends to cut jobs for a given volume of trade.Publication Integrated Logistic Centers(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-04)China s shift toward accelerated economic growth in central and western provinces and increasing levels of personal income and consumption are all consistent with the need for rail-enabled Integrated Logistics Centers (ILCs). Yet, while hundreds of logistics clusters have been developed in China over the past few years, modern, international standard rail- and multimodal-transport enabled ILCs are less common. Close, long-term collaboration between public sector authorities and private sector specialized firms, such as real estate developers, have proven effective in the development of North America s focused network of ILCs critical to facilitating transcontinental and other freight itineraries. This model can succeed in China as well. The ready availability of multimodal transport connectivity is the most critical component of any cluster of logistics activities. This note will argue that China could substantially benefit from developing a focused network of well-planned, economically justified, financially viable, and carefully implemented ILCs supported by rail intermodal operations.Publication Georgias Transport and Logistics Strategy(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-01)This policy note describes the state of transport and logistics in Georgia, carries out a needs assessment and identifies the main areas for improvements.The purpose of this policy note is to develop a common understanding between the Government of Georgia (GoG) and its partners of the institutional and physical challenges which face the transport and logistics sector, and of a strategy for meeting these challenges in the medium-term. The policy note identifies the key strategic directions and actions which will enable the sector to grow and improve. It intends to help the Bank and the development partners to engage with the GoG in dialogue on the critical bottlenecks and to provide the Government with advice based on the Bank’s international experience. The strategic directions outlined in this policy note require institutional reforms. This is inevitably a long term process but one which will gradually improve Georgia’s Logistics Performance Index ranking and its trade and competiveness.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Monetary, Fiscal, and Structural Drivers of Inflation in Ethiopia(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-12)This study empirically investigates the drivers of inflation in Ethiopia using monthly data from July 1998 to September 2020. It explores short-run and long-run effects of domestic and external determinants of inflation—including demand-side, supply-side, and structural factors—using the cointegration and vector error correction methodology. Four measures of inflation are considered: cereals, food, nonfood, and all items consumer price index inflation. A key contribution to the existing literature is the investigation of the role of the fiscal sector in modeling inflation, a topic that has been neglected in the existing studies on inflation in Ethiopia. The empirical results show that disequilibria in the monetary sector, grains sector, and food markets have long-run effects on inflation. In the short run, inflation is driven by structural factors (notably, cereal output gaps and imported inflation) as well as demand-side factors (notably, money growth and public sector borrowing). The results hold when the analysis is limited to the high growth period from 2005 onward, following the end of the International Monetary Fund program in the country. The evidence provides valuable insights in the context of ongoing macroeconomic policy reforms in Ethiopia.Publication Digital Progress and Trends Report 2025: Strengthening AI Foundations(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-11-24)The recent rapid evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) has outpaced society’s ability to fully grasp its implications. Unlike technological shifts that have unfolded over decades, AI’s integration is accelerating at an unprecedented speed and scale. Along with AI’s immense opportunities come new responsibilities—especially for ethical deployment, accountability, and alignment with human values—that have few precedents in previous technology revolutions. This 2025 edition of the "Digital Progress and Trends Report (DPTR)" explores how low- and middle-income countries can harness AI to drive inclusive and sustainable development—and avoid being left behind. The report explains what makes AI different from earlier general-purpose technologies and why it matters for development. It introduces the 4Cs, the foundations essential for AI adoption, adaptation, and innovation: connectivity (infrastructure), compute (processing power), context (training data, algorithms, and applications), and competency (digital skills). Drawing on rich, novel data sets, this DPTR benchmarks countries across the 4Cs, analyzes supply and demand dynamics, and identifies market failures and externalities where policy action is urgently needed. This report emphasizes the need for global coordination and targeted interventions to close the widening AI gaps, where resource constraints threaten to exacerbate inequality. Policy insights will help governments unlock AI’s potential while navigating its risks.Publication The Global Findex Database 2025: Connectivity and Financial Inclusion in the Digital Economy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-07-16)The Global Findex 2025 reveals how mobile technology is equipping more adults around the world to own and use financial accounts to save formally, access credit, make and receive digital payments, and pursue opportunities. Including the inaugural Global Findex Digital Connectivity Tracker, this fifth edition of Global Findex presents new insights on the interactions among mobile phone ownership, internet use, and financial inclusion. The Global Findex is the world’s most comprehensive database on digital and financial inclusion. It is also the only global source of comparable demand-side data, allowing cross-country analysis of how adults access and use mobile phones, the internet, and financial accounts to reach digital information and resources, save, borrow, make payments, and manage their financial health. Data for the Global Findex 2025 were collected from nationally representative surveys of about 145,000 adults in 141 economies. The latest edition follows the 2011, 2014, 2017, and 2021 editions and includes new series measuring mobile phone ownership and internet use, digital safety, and frequency of transactions using financial services. The Global Findex 2025 is an indispensable resource for policy makers in the fields of digital connectivity and financial inclusion, as well as for practitioners, researchers, and development professionals.Publication West Bank and Gaza Data Governance Framework Assessment(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-09-26)Data serves many purposes in the public sector: first as infrastructure that supports services and enables transactions between diverse stakeholders in a network, from government to businesses and to citizens; and second as an evidence base for governance and decision-making. Most recently, the value of data was demonstrated through efforts to manage the COVID-19 pandemic using data to aid in disease contact tracing, provide information, guide policies, and inform spending of funds. Public sector and government data sources such as censuses, national surveys, and administrative data, combined with data produced by the private sector helping to fill data gaps, provide timelier and finer-scale assessments of programs and policies, and serve public policy and development needs. Businesses can create value from government data by integrating it with data produced by the private sector. This highlights the importance of efficient and effective data sharing, reuse, and interoperability between different actors to better realize development objectives. This report describes the key findings on: leadership on data use and sharing in the government; key enablers for better public sector data use; key legal, regulatory, and policy safeguards that facilitate the trusted use, reuse, and sharing of data in a safe and secure manner; key stakeholders and their role and responsibilities in the data governance framework; and a proposed action plan.Publication Digital Services Tax(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-01-06)Digital platforms are transforming social, business, and economic norms, changing theway we interact, consume, and do business. Digital technologies present many opportunitiesand benefits for society and governments. They also provide new opportunities for taxadministrations, such as prospects for better and more efficient tax collection by accessing newdata sources and improved international collaboration.