Skills in business operations are the most sought-after, while mentions of process improvement and optimisation skills are growing fastest in job ads.
Industry-specific skill demand
The most in-demand skills are business operations, business analysis, and inventory and warehousing. Communication, initiative and leadership, and personal attributes (e.g. right attitude/mindset) are also important, with over 80 per cent of job advertisements within the industry mentioning one or more of these skills.
Most mentioned industry-specific skills in 2024 as a share of job advertisements
Industry-specific skill | Share of job ads |
|---|---|
Business operations | 37.2% |
Business analysis | 19.3% |
Inventory and warehousing | 13.4% |
Material handling | 9.0% |
Heavy equipment operation | 8.2% |
Business solutions | 8.1% |
Supply chain management | 7.3% |
Agile software | 5.4% |
Information technology management | 5.1% |
System design and | 5.0% |
Growing skills mentions within industry
Skills increasingly being mentioned in job advertisements in the transport, postal and warehousing industry are process improvement and optimisation, occupational health and safety, and electrical and computer engineering.
Note: these exclude industry-specific skills already identified as being in high demand.
Growing skills as a percentage point difference in job advertisement mentions from 2019 to 2024
Industry-specific skill | Percentage of job ad mentions in 2019 | Percentage of job ad mentions in 2024 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
Process improvement and optimisation | 3.3% | 11.5% | 8.2% |
Occupational health and safety | 6.2% | 12.4% | 6.1% |
Electrical and computer engineering | 0.2% | 6.0% | 5.8% |
Transportation operations | 0.7% | 5.4% | 4.7% |
Logistics | 1.8% | 6.4% | 4.5% |
Ground freight transportation | 3.5% | 7.8% | 4.3% |
Scheduling | 0.2% | 4.1% | 3.9% |
Air transportation | 0.5% | 4.2% | 3.7% |
Contract management | 2.0% | 5.1% | 3.1% |
Regulation and legal compliance | 0.7% | 3.8% | 3.0% |
Updated