Supply chain employment of women sees slow, steady rise

Studies show that women account for just over one-third of the jobs in most supply chain and logistics organizations, but logistics service provider Dachser USA says it employs a far larger portion than most.

The U.S. arm of Germany-based Dachser said today that 56 percent of its workforce is female, topping a 2018 Gartner study that found the industry average was between 37 and 38 percent.

Gartner's third annual "Women in Supply Chain Survey," conducted in partnership with industry group Awesome, found that the representation of women in the senior-most ranks — CSCO, SVP, EVP, or CPO reporting to the CEO — is strong and sustained relative to other functions, but remains low and flat at all other levels of leadership.

However, Gartner also found that more respondents reported supply-chain-led formal goals and initiatives to improve gender diversity in 2018 than in 2017. One of the most important things companies can do to impact recruitment and retention, as well as advancement of women to senior levels, is to increase the visibility of successful women leaders as role models, Gartner and Awesome concluded.

Dachser USA noted that its achivement is outpacing industry standards, which show an increase of less than 4 percent from 2006 to 2016 in the number of women employed in supply chain and logistics. Despite that slow progress, long term trends appear to be catching up, driven by statistics such as the rising number of women enrolled in supply chain and logistics courses, and by the shifting perception of the industry away from images of managing heavy lift equipment and toward managing processes and technology, the company said.

"Creating a company culture that recognizes talent and identifies the right person for the job—regardless of age or gender—is central to our core values to develop the best possible team," Vincent Touya, managing director of Dachser USA, said in a release. "The female professionals at Dachser USA, which make up more than half of our workforce, bring the right mix of knowledge of the industry, passion for their career and a collaborative attitude."