Procurement Heads’ Head of Industrial Practice Dan Goodson explores the obstacles encountered in these sectors and the scarcity of qualified candidates following the recruitment boom.
Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic led to increased recruitment activity in procurement across various industrial sectors due to a number of factors but namely a lack of availability of raw materials and specialist products.
This created a perfect storm for organisations looking for experienced candidates amidst the need to change and update their procurement strategies and become much more strategic in assessing their risk profiles across multiple categories of spend.
Companies are specifically seeking Category Management specialists with expertise in developing robust supply chains to ensure uninterrupted production.
However, finding suitable candidates with the required skills and experience has become challenging.
The post-Brexit and post-pandemic era has brought increased competition within the labour market across various sectors.
Organisations in the industrial sectors find themselves vying for the same pool of qualified candidates to address their procurement needs.
This intensifies the challenge of attracting and retaining top procurement talent, making the recruitment process more demanding.
Many organisations moved to a more fluid working arrangement including hybrid and remote working which allowed for continued production and project milestones but with the world now returning to “normal” many organisations in the industrial sector are slowly re-introducing an in-office weighting to their expectations on people’s time.
This has made it more difficult for organisations to attract and retain talent and has led to an exodus of talent from the industrial sectors.
Overcoming these challenges requires strategic approaches and tailored recruitment efforts to secure qualified professionals who can effectively drive procurement functions within these sectors.
The focus should once again be on transferable skills and experiences. Speaking to people with an interest in industry but who perhaps come from the consumer, public sector or professional services sectors.
Speaking with your specialist Procurement Recruitment Consultant could help navigate these challenges and give you access to the best procurement talent in the market.
