Supply chain and logistics job advertisements leave a lot to be desired

Research shows that job advertisements for Dutch supply chain and logistics positions score inadequately. The ads receive a rating of 4.1 on a scale from 1 to 10. This is just slightly lower than the average rating for job ads in the Netherlands (4.2).

Nowadays, organizations within supply chain and logistics are pulling out all the stops to reduce the acute shortage of staff. It is therefore all the more striking that the quality of job advertisements is still lacking. For years, job ads have been struggling with a negative image. Often, the texts are labelled as boring, lacking in innovation and incomplete. In addition, they are peppered with clichés and jargon.

“The aim of this research was to discover whether the quality of job advertisements is really that bad, despite the current tight labour market,” reports Nicol Tadema, Job Ads Specialist at ‘Scoren met Woorden’, and Mitch Gielen, Director of ‘Purple Squirrel Effect’. They are the initiators of the research conducted on 960 job ads from seven sectors, including supply chain and logistics.

Fourth position

With a score of 4.2, supply chain and logistics ranks fourth. The highest position is for government ads, scoring a 5.1. The retail and hospitality and tourism sectors bring up the rear, each with a score of 3.6.

How can it be that the quality of job advertisements is underwhelming, despite the current staff shortage in the logistics sector? “Employers do not see the job ad as the solution to the recruitment problem,” states Toine Giessen, owner of Networq, a recruitment agency specializing in logistics, supply chain and operations. “Often, therefore, the job ads at company A, B and C are all the same. A missed opportunity, because if you provide more than just information about the job itself and tell your story well, you can make the difference in recruitment,” says Giessen.

Not targeted

Each job advert was assessed on 26 components, such as the disclosure of salary, information about the application process, and the number of requirements. For example, it was assessed whether the introductory text was tailored for the target audience. Within supply chain and logistics, this was found to be the least good. In 45% of the ads, it was not targeted. With an average of seven, the use of clichés was also higher in supply chain and logistics than in most other sectors.

So what is done well? Compared to the other sectors, there are the least number of job requirements. At 696 words, the average length of the job ad within supply chain and logistics was also reasonably close to the optimum of 640 words. Furthermore, job ads for graduate-level logistics and supply chain roles use the lowest number of difficult words, averaging only 7.6 per text.

Added value underestimated

That job ads score so poorly is no surprise to Tadema. She trains and advises employers and intermediaries to achieve maximum results with job ads. “The added value of the most widely used tool in labour market communication is heavily underestimated. Unbelievable, because I know from experience that a good job ad also gets latent jobseekers moving. Even in this labour market.”

The big advantage of job ads, according to Tadema, is that a simple change can yield the best applicant the same day and also strengthen the employer brand. “If possible, outsource the writing to a copywriting professional. Don’t you have the resources for this? Then write a text just as you would speak to the target group. This will automatically create a target group-oriented, distinctive text in clear language.”