How To Address The Growing Skills Gap in Global Trade Management

 

 Multinational corporations around the world face a problem that is becoming more and more common: they are having a hard time hiring people who have the skills and experience they need to fill many important positions in global trade management.

 

According to the Thomson Reuters Institute Global Trade Report 2022, 77% of global trade professionals surveyed agreed that the industry's rapid evolution makes it difficult to find talent for key positions. Because they are unable to find the talent they require on the open job market, 45% of respondents also stated that they are considering outsourcing to fill these skill gaps.

 

Change Drivers in Global Trade Management

 

The gap in global trade management skills is caused, as the paper explains, by two main factors that, when combined, constitute a paradigm shift that alters the skillset required of an effective global trade professional.

 

Global trade's increasing complexity and volatility is the first factor. Geopolitical instability, supply chain scarcity, regulatory changes, sanctions, labor unrest, legal disputes, and rising fuel costs are just a few of the issues that global trade professionals face on a regular basis. People with equally extensive resumes of skills and abilities in these and other areas are needed because of the rapid expansion of job responsibilities.

 

Common Skills Gaps

 This nexus between the increasing complexity of global trade and the rapid pace of technological change has resulted in a requirement for trade professionals with a much broader skill set than in previous generations. However, businesses are finding that it is difficult to find experienced candidates with such a wide range of skills and experience.

 

More than three-quarters (77%) of global trade professionals polled in the Thomson Reuters Institute (TRI) Global Trade Report 2022 stated that the industry's rapid evolution was making it difficult to find talent to fill key roles. In addition, 45% of businesses worldwide stated that they are considering outsourcing to fill these skill gaps due to a lack of talent on the open job market.