As the academic year draws to a close, a new influx of graduates and school leavers will enter an increasingly competitive job market. Attracting new entrants to the diverse range of jobs across shipping is a constant challenge, in part because those outside of the industry have rarely been encouraged to look at a shipping career. There are probably not many teenagers looking forward to their last long, lazy summer vacation with an eye on a future as a P&I claims manager or in the scheduling department of a liner shipping company. But the jobs are there, need to be filled and in many cases provide a springboard to a fulfilling and often highly lucrative career, despite the protestations of recruiters that young people today want it too easy with a focus on work/life balance that would have got short shift in their day. The demographics of the shipping industry’s onshore workforce are now at a pivotal point. Many of those who joined the industry in the late 1970s and early ’80s are on the glide path into the latter stages of their career. Hopefully their successors will have the benefit of their wisdom and experience for a while yet, but at the same time there will probably be relief amongst their younger colleagues that old war stories of surviving the ‘80s recession and the antics they got up to in times of different standards and values will become a thing of the past. Gen Z will hold the value chains accountable The good news is that there is a wealth of talent already entrenched in our industry who do not have the baggage and entitlement so often seen in youth but who still have plenty of time ahead to make a difference – and they are most definitely going about it. This month’s Geneva Dry event, which received extensive coverage in our sister publication, included plenty of industry veterans amongst the participants, but it was the contributions of those with two decades or less involvement in our industry which provided plenty of insight into the new generation of shipping leaders and the future of the industry. Their opinions confirmed that shipping will of course continue to be the vital artery of trade it has always been, but will do so with responsibility and a social conscience together with an awareness of the advantages and pitfalls of the technology many older industry veterans are struggling to get to grips with. “Gen Z will hold the value chains accountable” was amongst the many notable comments made from the stage in Geneva earlier this month and was both a warning and a rallying cry to any companies or individuals who are still stuck in the ‘dark ages’. Whether it be working practices and diversity in the workplace or addressing a more demanding consumer who wants a better understanding of the full environmental impact of everything they buy and consume, the very fact that this is now top of the agenda for the people who are going to steer us through the coming changes means we have a far better chance of achieving those changes as opposed to just talking about them or putting them in the too difficult box. As some of the great characters who have made modern shipping what it is begin to step back, they can be relieved to know they are handing over the watch to a highly competent crew. TagsSplash Extra Archive Splash Extra May 2024