An Industrywide Push to Attract Young, Skilled Workers
Article from MHI Solutions Magazine
We all know that we have reached a critical moment in the material handling space. Our industry is growing and evolving at a remarkable speed, creating tremendous opportunities and fresh challenges. The pandemic and the shift in consumer behavior that led to the dramatic rise of e‑commerce have also given the supply chain—and material handling, in particular—a level of visibility that did not exist in the past. We need to take advantage of that, particularly when it comes to attracting talented young people to our industry.
As I sat with our board of directors and leadership team at the presentation of the 2025 MHI Annual Industry Report at ProMat in March, I was not surprised to see that “workforce and talent shortage” was one of five key trends impacting supply chains in 2025. It is also one of the key trends affecting our own industry. It appears on every survey of material handling leaders, and it has for years. We have experienced sharp demographic shifts in our workforce. We are seeing the Baby Boomer generation either retiring or preparing to retire, and the loss of their knowledge is a widespread concern…
