Sports Direct media storm must not damage industry says UKWA CEO
September 27, 2016
Negative publicity surrounding Sports Direct’s treatment of its warehouse staff, must not be allowed to tarnish the reputation of the entire logistics industry by making firms in the sector appear unattractive employers, says Peter Ward, chief executive officer of the UK Warehousing Association (UKWA) “ the leading trade body for the supply chain sector.
He comments: While the media storm surrounding Sports Direct has played to the stereotype of the logistics industry being a poorly paid, low-skilled industry where people spend their days being mistreated in cold, dirty warehouses, the reality is quite the opposite.
The pay, working conditions and long term career prospects of staff across all levels of the industry compare very favourably with other markets and there is no doubt that the logistics industry is a dynamic place to be at the moment.
Peter continues: The rapid growth of e-commerce (and Amazon in particular) and the transition of traditional warehouses to fulfilment centres are just two of the factors impacting on the way the sector operates and making logistics ‘the new retail’.
It is essential that logistics attracts our brightest school and university leavers and UKWA is working hard to encourage more young people to enter the industry as a conscious career move. We will not allow the Sports Direct debacle to de-rail this progress.
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