Logistics employment is projected to grow 18% through 2035. But job growth isn’t the part of that statistic that caught my attention.
The bigger issue is whether we are preparing people for the logistics industry they are actually going to enter.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, approximately 26,600 openings for logisticians are projected each year over the next decade. At the same time, the work itself is changing. Transportation and supply chain operations are becoming more digital, more data-driven and increasingly dependent on people who can operate across technology, physical movement and multiple organizations.
That creates a workforce challenge that can’t be solved simply by recruiting more people into logistics.
We have to prepare them differently.
The Statistic Is Only the Starting Point
The projected openings represent a significant opportunity.
People entering logistics can build careers across freight forwarding, trucking, cargo operations, warehousing, transportation coordination, customer service, dispatch, documentation and supply chain management. Employers will need people who can support both daily execution and the increasingly complex systems behind it.
But the number of available jobs does not tell us whether people are ready to perform them.
Workforce readiness is the more important question.
A candidate may be comfortable with computers and familiar with basic business software. That does not necessarily mean the candidate understands how freight moves, how a booking becomes a physical shipment or how a missed handoff can affect an entire customer commitment.
The industry needs both opportunity and preparation.
The Industry People Are Entering
Logistics work increasingly takes place across several connected environments, including:
- Transportation management systems
- Cargo and warehouse systems
- Enterprise resource planning platforms
- Analytics dashboards and reporting tools
- Digital booking and documentation workflows
- Tracking and milestone-management systems
- Automation and artificial intelligence tools
- Multiple suppliers, carriers and transportation partners
These systems create more information and, in many cases, faster access to it. They also raise the expectations placed on the people using them.
A logistics professional may need to review a digital booking, confirm capacity, monitor a pickup, communicate with a trucking partner, interpret a tracking exception and update a customer: all while coordinating with other organizations that have separate systems and responsibilities.
That is not simply a software job.
It is operational work supported by software.
The strongest logistics careers will require people who can move between the digital and physical sides of transportation without losing sight of either one.
They will need to understand what the system is showing, what is happening to the freight and what action is required next.
Software Knowledge Is Not Operational Understanding
Knowing how to navigate a platform is useful. It is not the same as understanding logistics.
A system may show that a shipment is delayed. An operator must determine what that delay means.
Was the freight not ready for pickup? Did the truck miss an appointment? Was the booking changed? Is documentation incomplete? Did the carrier, forwarder, warehouse or cargo handler fail to complete a handoff?
The answer determines the response.
Operational understanding means knowing:
- How freight physically moves from origin to destination
- How quotes, bookings, tracking and delivery connect
- Which organization owns each stage of the shipment
- Who owns the next action when something changes
- Which handoffs create risk or delay
- When an exception is becoming a service failure
- How to communicate clearly before the problem grows
This distinction matters for every level of the workforce.
An entry-level coordinator may be responsible for updating a status, contacting a carrier or escalating an issue. To do that well, the person needs more than a checklist. They need enough context to recognize what is normal, what is at risk and what information another stakeholder needs to act.
Technology can identify an exception. People still have to interpret it.
Why ImEx Cargo Academy Exists
This is why I believe logistics training must be grounded in actual operating conditions.
ImEx Cargo Academy was built from operating experience, not from an academic theory of how logistics works. The curriculum reflects lessons accumulated across freight forwarding, air cargo, trucking, airline GSA/GSSA operations, government contracting and supply-chain execution.
The goal is to connect learners to the language, workflows and expectations they will encounter in real logistics environments.
The Academy currently includes 35 courses. Those courses address the practical foundations people need to understand transportation work, including shipment coordination, freight communication, documentation awareness, tracking, customer service and exception management.
This is not about presenting training as a substitute for experience.
It is about giving people a stronger foundation before they are asked to manage real responsibilities.
A person who understands the relationship between a shipment milestone and a physical handoff can learn a new system more effectively. A person who understands why communication and ownership matter is better positioned to respond when the plan changes.
That is the difference between software familiarity and digital logistics capability.
Training Has to Connect to Employers
No single organization can solve the logistics workforce challenge alone.
Employers, workforce organizations, educational institutions, economic-development agencies and public-sector partners all have a role in the training equation.
Employers understand the work that needs to be performed. They know where new hires struggle, which communication habits matter and which operational skills are difficult to find.
Workforce organizations understand the people and communities that need access to opportunity. Educational institutions can create structured pathways. Economic-development agencies can connect training to regional infrastructure, transportation hubs and employer demand. Public-sector partners can align workforce development with broader transportation, contracting and community objectives.
Those functions are most effective when they are connected.
Training should be informed by actual employer needs. Employers should have a voice in defining entry-level expectations. Learners should be able to see how training connects to career pathways rather than viewing it as an isolated credential.
That connection also improves accountability.
A workforce program should be able to ask:
- What roles are employers trying to fill?
- What skills do participants need before entering those roles?
- How will practical readiness be assessed?
- What support is needed after training?
- How will employers and partners measure progress?
These are operating questions, not merely educational questions.
Workforce Readiness Is Also Workforce Continuity
There is another reason this work matters.
Logistics organizations often depend on knowledge that has accumulated informally over time. Experienced employees know how to recognize an unusual delay, which partner needs to be contacted first and what small warning sign can become a larger operational problem.
When that knowledge remains with one person, the organization becomes exposed to turnover, retirement and role changes.
Workforce development can help preserve operational knowledge by making expectations, workflows and decision points more visible and repeatable.
That does not eliminate the value of experience. It gives experience a structure that can be shared.
A stronger workforce pipeline supports both new entrants and incumbent employees. New employees gain context faster. Existing employees have clearer processes to teach. Organizations reduce the risk of losing essential knowledge when responsibilities move from one person to another.
Training, documentation and coordinated workflows all contribute to workforce continuity.
Preparing for the Work Ahead
The future of logistics will require people who can work with digital tools while understanding the physical and commercial realities behind the data.
They will need to know when a status is informational, when it requires action and when it signals risk across the shipment lifecycle.
They will need to communicate across multiple companies and transportation modes. They will need to understand ownership, handoffs and escalation. They will need the judgment to respond when a standard process no longer fits the situation in front of them.
This is why logistics workforce development should not focus only on filling openings.
It should focus on preparing people for the work those openings represent.
The same challenge exists on the execution side of the industry. Plug-In Freight Ops™ is the complementary infrastructure layer designed to coordinate workflows, handoffs, partners and exceptions across fragmented logistics environments.
The Academy prepares people to understand the work.
Plug-In Freight Ops™ addresses how that work is coordinated across organizations.
Both are necessary as logistics becomes more connected, more digital and more dependent on execution discipline.
The opportunity is clear. Logistics careers are growing, and supply chain operations will continue to need capable people.
Our responsibility is to make sure workforce preparation keeps pace with the industry people are actually entering.
For individuals and organizations exploring the next step:
- Explore ImEx Cargo Academy career training
- Learn about Workforce Development Partnerships
- Explore Plug-In Freight Ops™
About Michelle DeFronzo
Michelle DeFronzo is Founder and CEO of ImEx Cargo, a woman-owned logistics and freight-technology company. With more than 30 years in global logistics, she builds modular infrastructure that modernizes access and collaboration in operational industries without replacing existing systems. Her work focuses on platform strategy, ecosystem design, workforce readiness and coordination across complex logistics environments.
