By Steve Wilkins, Manager HR Service UK & Ireland
What does your dream job look like? Is it defined by security, consistency and a clear pathway to success, or is it entrepreneurship, variety and adventure that motivate you? There are few industries around which offer roles on both sides of the spectrum, but logistics is certainly striving to be recognised as one of them – particularly among the youth of today.
At FedEx, the range of disciplines is broad. But it’s not just about shouting about the wealth of career opportunities in our industry, it is also important to explore other ways we can support our country’s young people. Educating our youth about logistics will benefit them in any line of work and helps promote our industry across all sectors.
One way that FedEx is helping young people to gain this greater level of understanding is by emphasising its significance early on in their career development. In line with this educational process, FedEx sponsors the Access Award category at the Junior Achievement-Young Enterprise (JA-YE) Awards, encouraging businesses to communicate with young people. Whether to develop individual careers or for future business owners and leaders, this cooperation helps illustrate the impact having a basic understanding of transportation networks can have on entrepreneurial business growth and prospects.
The Access Award is presented to the student company who best demonstrates an understanding of international trade and devises a product or service that can succeed globally. Run by Junior Achievement Worldwide, the awards bring together Europe’s brightest and best student entrepreneurs to recognise their incomparable enthusiasm for business. Although this scheme recognises business talent in the UK, it is an extremely worthwhile way of meeting students and helping to promote, not only the value a logistics provider can bring to a company but also communicate to young people the innovation and ever-evolving job prospects available in the industry.
The 2014 winner was the UK-based ACE, which offers adhesive gel packs that offer easy storage solutions. Despite the relatively young age of the team, they have already made sales in countries as far away as Australia, Malaysia and Dubai and have plans to extend their market further in the near future. ACE serves as a shining example of what the next generation is able to achieve, and the knowledge gained during the competition gives them solid ground to pursue their career options wisely.
Enterprise programmes such as JA-YE are just one of the ways logistics providers can attract the interest of young people and promote the exciting prospects of our sector’s work if a basic understanding is gained. Whether it’s apprenticeships, community events or working closely with local educational establishments, businesses should be looking to make the most of the often untapped potential that is 16-25 year olds, which also attracts our future entrepreneurs and leaders. Engaging, educating and developing youth is fundamental to keeping ours an exciting and forward-thinking industry.
