An analysis of supply chain job openings shows gaps in digital skills among supply chain roles, likely impeding companies’ digital transformation goals, according to a report from software vendor Cleo.
While many companies in the sector claim to have tech-centered business goals, they’re not recruiting employees who possess the skill sets needed to achieve them, the firm said.
For example, half (54.3%) of open supply chain jobs included a requirement for some form of software knowledge, but less than a quarter (21.4%) demanded knowledge of enterprise resource planning (ERP), which is a key technology in supply chain operations.
Likewise, only 6.5% of job openings included the term “automation,” while even less (1.6%) included the term “artificial intelligence or AI.” And only 4.9% of job openings included broad data management responsibilities (“data management,” “data visualization,” “data mining,” “data insights,” and “data-driven decision making”), although those skills are critical to integrating information dispersed throughout the supply chain.
The results come from Cleo’s “Supply Chain Jobs Report,” which reviewed the requirements listed in 925 open U.S.-based supply chain tech and business operations jobs on LinkedIn, Indeed, ZipRecruiter, Glassdoor, Talent.com, and other job search websites prior to October 1.
According to Cleo, these results point to a persistent overreliance on manual processes at the expense of digital-first strategies, indicating that many supply chain roles are still grounded in legacy methods. And while companies increasingly value candidates with advanced software skills and are willing to pay higher salaries for those skills, strikingly few companies are actively shopping for people with them.
“These findings indicate a significant discrepancy in the supply chain industry’s push toward digital transformation and the foundational skills actually being prioritized in the workforce,” Tushar Patel, Cleo’s CMO, said in a release. “Without requiring software skills for new roles, businesses risk falling behind on operational efficiency and sustained profitability goals. The lack of basic data integration required within job responsibilities tells us that most organizations are at-risk of maintaining status quo – forcing their teams to remain reactive instead of proactive toward supply chain disruptions.”
