Insight: Gender Parity in Logistics - The Road So Far and the Challenges Ahead
Good supply chain and logistics managers have to be multi-taskers by nature, a talent that women have traditionally possessed in spades. Yet, until a couple of decades ago, women's participation in transport and logistics operations had been minimal to negligible.
In this article we will examine reasons as to why this has been so, how things are changing today and what challenges will continue to remain in achieving greater gender diversity in future supply chain operations.
The legacy mindset
Until a century ago efficiently moving goods from point A to B was largely an outdoor, muscle-oriented activity with men working in teams or horses and mules moving cargo-laden carraiges.
Subsequently, as mechanisation and automation became more and more widespread the "muscle" factor became much less important. Instead, planning, implementing and controlling the efficient flow and storage of goods became much more critical to realising efficient supply chain operations.
However, the general perception of logistics activities among the public at large remained as manly and outdoorsy. Even today, when most of us think of the words "driver" or "teamster", it most likely to invokes the image of a man.
This legacy mindset has been one of the greatest hurdles on the path of greater women's participation in the logistics workforce. The recent pandemic also sharply reversed many positive trends that were taking place of late.
State of play today
A Gartner report released last month showed that womens' participation in the supply chain workforce stood at 41%. The greatest jump that was seen over last year has been of women at C-Suite and executive levels, where 26% of those roles (CSCO, SVP, EVP, CPO) are now filled by women, an all-time high and up from 19% in 2022.
“It’s particularly encouraging to see women make gains at the senior executive level, as we know that when a woman holds the top supply chain position this has a positive correlation with more women in leadership and in all roles through that organization,” said Caroline Chumakov, Director Analyst in the Gartner Supply Chain Practice.
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This has not only been the result of governmental nudges but logistics companies themselves are looking to diversify their human resources to include greater participation from women.
Having come a long way from token celebrations on International Women's Day, the biggest logistics companies across the world - and in the Middle East too - are initiating concrete programs that have brought in women employees in a variety of roles.
Moving towards gender parity
UAE's very own Aramex has signed a pledge last December through the UAE Gender Balance Council to increase women’s representation in mid- and senior positions to reach 30% by 2025.
Commenting on this milestone, Nadeem Baig, Chief HR Officer at Aramex, said: “This initiative is key to achieving our global mission of connecting people, not just to one another, but also to live and breathe fairness, equity and opportunity in the environment we offer to our female and male colleagues."
This week global shipping major, Maersk has held the second edition of its Equal At Sea 2023 initiative with the theme of ‘Charting a course towards an inclusive future’ in a bid to create a more equitable workspace in the logistics sector.
The event is aimed at taking stock of the progress made since the launch of the Equal At Sea initiative in 2022 and providing a platform for the industry to create opportunities for facilitating industry-wide transformation.
Maersk has also recently opened a new first-of-its-kind 10,000-foot warehouse in India with women running and operating all the jobs and tasks in the facility.
With over 37% female workers in its regional operations, DHL Global Forwarding’s Middle East is making great strides in gender diversification.
While speaking at the TLME Future of Logistics Conferece Part II in Dubai, Eva Mattheeussen, Head of HR, MEA and Global Project Lead at DHL Global Forwarding said the region was far ahead of others when it came to gender diversity in the workplace.
According to Ms Mattheeussen, creating gender diversity in the workforce is a question of building a pipeline of human resources and discovering ways to make the logistics industry attractive to females and to the younger generation.
Emirati women in the workforce
Dubai's Emirates Group has diverse staff of over 1,000 women professionals in various roles across more than 30 departments.
From pilots and engineers who work with the world’s biggest commercial aircraft, to IT professionals, service ambassadors, marketing and data experts, commercial services and more, these talented and passionate Emirati women are vital contributors to the group.
Emirates Group has also recently partnered with INSEAD, one of the most prominent business schools in the world, to offer senior Emirati women executives a chance to enroll in the Women Leaders Programme.
AD Ports Group has also actively been encouraging and promoting greater participation of Emirati women in its woorkforce. Last July the group signed an MoU with UAE's General Women’s Union to promote Emirati women’s empowerment strategies in line with the UAE’s development efforts.
At the signing of the MoU, Dr Noura Al Dhaheri, CEO of the Digital Cluster at AD Ports Group, and also the CEO of Maqta Gateway said: “AD Ports Group’s Maqta Gateway is keen to share its knowledge and expertise with the aim to facilitate trade through the latest technologies.
"Therefore, in line with this agreement, we will continue to provide the required platforms that will have a great impact on empowering women.”
AD Ports Group has also partenered with Aurora50, a social enterprise focusing on achieving gender-balanced boardrooms in the UAE.
Through the new partnership, AD Ports Group and Aurora50 aim to create a more inclusive and integrated workplace environment with a new purpose-driven programme, GLOW (Gain Leadership Opportunities for Women).
'We can and must do better'
The first ever International Day for Women in Maritime kicked off its inaugural celebration in May last year with a seminar to take stock and identify areas where improvement is needed.
Speaking on the occasion International Maritime Organization (IMO) chief Kitack Lim said that women account for just 20% of the workforce in the maritime authorities of Member States and 29% across subsectors in the maritime industry.
He however, pointed out that these numbers were significantly higher than those at sea, where women make up as little as 2% of the workforce, He emphasised: “We can and must do better."
The 'boots on the ground' challenge
Despite significant progress in managerial and desk-oriented roles, significant frontline operational challenges remain.
Breaking this barrier Zainab Matovu joined FedEx over a year ago and works as a courier in Dubai.
Her passion for her job has helped her overcome obstacles she encountered: “I rise up every morning with optimism to face the challenges of the day, and I find work to be easy and fun. It's always a pleasure to interact with different customers and put a smile on their faces."
If you are a woman considering a career in logistics, Zainab’s words will motivate you: “Let's challenge the stereotypes that have traditionally associated this profession with men."
The maternity challenge
One challenge however, that is unique to women is maternity leave.
Speaking at the same TLME Future of Logistics conference mentioned above, CEO & Partner of Vespucci Maritime and shipping industry thought leader Lars Jensen said: "There is only one physical aspect that differentiates women from men i.e. the ability to bear children which brings up the question of maternity leave and what are the rights you give to women on that score."
Ms Mattheeussen responded by saying she been very lucky and her company and colleagues had been very accommodating during her pregnancy and thereafter.
Going a step further in maintaining gender parity in the workplace, Ms Mattheeussen added that it was not only for the women but managements also need to recognise and accomodate the changes in lifestyle that fatherhood brings about for their male workers.
The road ahead
The legacy issues many logistics workplaces face is the lack of specialised infrastructure - and some times even the basics like seperate and clean washrooms - for women.
Creche centers, diaper changing and breast feeding rooms make women much more comfortable in the workplace leading to greater productivity on their part. Across the world many companies have recognised this and making efforts to provide better facilities for women.
Today, things are changing quite rapidly and the road ahead is very likely to see these niggling - yet important issues - resolved. Thus allowing many women to overcome apprehensions that have so far held them back from exploring jobs in logistics.
Priyanka Ann Saini, MD, Marketing and PR, Supply Chain and Logistics at Charlie Pesti said better research and data collection efforts were needed to find out what exactly are women’s requirements from their workplace by talking to the women in the organisation.
These are not major investments and most companies today have recognising these shortcomings and are rapidly upgrading their infrastructure facilities to be more woman friendly.
Virtous cycle
Data from the Gartner report suggests a virtuous cycle is possible as more and more women reach top leadership roles in their supply chain organizations, with a clear finding this year that a woman in the senior-most role leads to more women in leadership and all roles within the organization.
“This connection between female leaders and the effect on women in the workforce has positive implications for how supply chain leaders can better design their efforts to improve representation of women in supply chain,” concludes Ms Chumakov.
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