MHD SUPPLY CHAIN
DIVERSIFYING THE SUPPLY CHAIN WORKPLACE
Seventy per cent of surveyed Australians think logistics is a male-dominated industry.
New research by Amazon has revealed that four in five women would be more interested in male dominated jobs if they saw women succeeding within the industry. MHD speaks to Rachel Smith, ALC Policy and Advocacy Director about the best strategies for attracting more women into supply chain and logistics roles.
I
t is no secret that transport and logistics are considered to be male-skewed industries. Despite this, Rachel Smith, ALC Policy and Advocacy Director, is beginning to see a shift in attitude. “There is a genuine desire to attract more female talent to the industry,” Rachel says. “For example, apart from our CEO, ALC is an all-female team. It’s all about challenging the perception of what the transport and logistics and supply chain industry is – because it’s more than just truck and train drivers.” The increase in automation and ever-
changing technology in supply chains has sparked demand for a completely different skillset to that of traditional warehouses. These days, one logistics company can cover a suite of roles: engineers, data scientists, managers and forklift operators all contribute to the flow of products in and out of a distribution centre. Of all participants interviewed in Amazon’s Australian research report, 70 per cent signaled logistics to be a male-dominated industry. Women participants identified clear strategies to reduce this imbalance, with 86 per cent
Rachel Smith, ALC Policy and Advocacy Director.
MHD DECEMBER 2021 | 31
