The logistics and transportation industry is a driving force for several sectors. Despite rapid growth over the past couple of years, owing to increased adoption of e-commerce and quick commerce, the logistics and transportation industry is suffering a severe worker shortage and challenges in recruiting.
The unemployment rate for the transportation and utilities sector stands at 3.3% as of October 2022. Hiring qualified personnel continues to be a challenge for recruiters.
Candidates in the logistics and transportation industry want a job and they want it fast. If they’re kept waiting in long recruitment processes, you’ll lose them to the competition. Time and continuous engagement are of the essence when hiring for this sector.
So how can recruiters unlock hiring success in this industry? Let’s dig deep into the candidates’ expectations, recruiting challenges, and talent engagement strategies that make a difference.
A study by PWC found that the top challenges facing recruiters in the logistics and transportation industry are a lack of skilled candidates and competition for resources.
Entry-level candidates in logistics and transportation are often simply looking for cash. They prefer recruiters that are quick to respond and move candidates through the hiring process rapidly.
On the other hand, recruiters have to spend a lot of time screening a large number of unqualified entry-level applicants. A lack of skilled candidates makes the hiring landscape highly competitive. Additionally, it is challenging to reach out to workers because they work long hours, often away from their base location. Recruiters can’t be available 24/7 to answer the candidates’ questions and schedule interviews.
Fortunately, AI and automation in transportation and logistics recruiting make it possible to engage candidates successfully at scale.
Companies that have evolved from clunky job applications and slow and infrequent responses to fast and personalized hiring are keeping talent engaged from the moment they land on their careers site to long after they become an employee.
Here are five actionable recruiting strategies for the logistics and transportation industry.
We know that recruiters can’t be available 24/7 to fill your open jobs, but AI chatbots certainly can! Capturing a candidate’s attention the moment they land on your careers page is critical to starting their experience on a positive note. A chatbot is like having a 24/7 recruiting assistant on your team that answers candidates’ questions instantly, recommends relevant roles they should apply to, and collects their application details automatically. This enables logistics and transportation candidates to apply for jobs at the time of their convenience and on their mobiles.
Busy candidates in the logistics and transportation sector prefer short recruiting processes with zero waiting time, so they can apply even during their breaks. The easier you can make the application process, the more candidates you’ll attract. Allow candidates to apply using simplified methods like text messaging or scanning a QR code. Keep the application process as frictionless as possible, prompt them to answer a few questions, and leave it to automation to capture their application automatically.
Manually reviewing resumes and applications significantly extends the hiring process, and you don’t want to keep candidates waiting in a competitive industry like logistics and transportation. Automated candidate screening with AI chatbots takes this burden away from recruiters. The recruiting chatbot intelligently screens applicants the moment they apply based on the specific criteria for a role and ensures that every qualified candidate advances to the interview stage. Moreover, those who aren’t qualified get redirected to jobs they’re a better fit for so no candidate falls through the cracks.
Scheduling interviews is another time-consuming process, owing to the back-and-forth emails to ensure everyone’s availability. This is even more impactful in cases of candidates like truck drivers who may not always be able to access their emails and messages. Automating scheduling with AI chatbots enables candidates to choose a date and time that works for them from a recruiter’s calendar, significantly reducing time-to-hire.
Companies often inform rejected candidates that they’ll ‘keep their information on file’, but in reality, it’s very difficult to keep track of thousands of candidates and their constantly changing qualifications, locations, and availability. The ATS database is a gold mine of talent that can be your top sourcing channel if used well. Automation enables you to keep the database updated at all times with the latest candidate information.
Transportation workers that work short-term gigs are usually open to work soon after. You can set up an automatic outreach to candidates that are reaching the end of their current assignment, checking if they’re ready for another assignment. Not only does this reduce talent acquisition costs, but it also enhances candidate experience, and boosts loyalty to your company.
Candidates need to be assured that you are actively interested in them during and after the interview process. Leverage automation to engage with interviewees and pre-hires by deploying multi-channel automated communication with relevant information. For example, send interviewees additional company information and policies in addition to the interview details. For pre-hires, send messages to build up excitement as they wait to join. (e.g., “We are looking forward to you joining next week”) Consistent talent engagement goes a long way in reducing drop-off and candidate ghosting mid-process.
Recruiters can successfully engage talent in the logistics and transportation industry with the right processes and the right technology tools in their arsenal. Want to explore how a talent engagement platform can transform your hiring? Read our all-you-need-to-know guide to talent engagement.
