Utilization of telecommuting as a tool for retaining logistics professionals

A logistics professional assists in the management and control of the supply chain from the time raw materials are procured for manufacturing to the time that finished products are delivered to the customer. Competition for experienced logistics professionals has grown fierce between companies and between recruiting agencies. As in any field, employee turnover of logistics professionals is proving to be a challenge resulting in expensive recruiting and training activities. This problem has been met with a number of solutions, one of which is offering logistics employees flexible work arrangements, specifically telecommuting.; Telecommuting, the process of carrying out job responsibilities from locations remote from the typical work place through the use to telecommunications hardware and software, has grown in popularity amongst companies in the last decade as technology has improved to make such an arrangement feasible and practical. This author researched the implications for employee retention amongst logistics professionals should companies offer these employees the benefit of telecommuting. Surveys were aimed at members of Council of Logistics Management's logistics professionals to gain data providing attitudes of logistics professionals toward telecommuting, as a benefit. Selected interviews were also conducted with current logistics telecommuters to procure data on actual experiences with telecommuting amongst logistics professionals. This research project aimed to show that companies employing logistics professionals can dramatically increase employee retention rates among logistics professionals by offering telecommuting as a benefit, resulting in reduced recruiting and training costs.