Workforce Challenges

Attracting, recruiting and retaining adequate workforce levels across some transport sectors has become a persistent challenge. The shortages that follow are driven by a lack of decent work and declining employment conditions, deregulation, weak enforcement, unfair competition and sustained downward pressure on labour standards. 

Across transport, workforce challenges weaken supply chain resilience and increase safety risks. In road transport, a global shortfall of 3.6 million drivers was recorded in 2024, with 20% of vacancies unfilled across Europe and Asia. Women make up just 3% of drivers, and the share of young workers fell 5.8% between 2023 and 2024, to only 6.5% of the global workforce. In shipping, BIMCO and the International Chamber of Shipping report a current shortage of over 39,000 certified officers, and project the industry will need 113,735 officers by 2030. Meanwhile, 800,000 seafarers require retraining to operate ships using sustainable fuels and emerging technologies. In warehousing, more than 370,000 roles remained unfilled in the USA in 2025; 53% of warehouse operators in the Asia-Pacific region reported difficulties recruiting workers in 2022; and the global warehouse industry could face a shortfall of over 2 million workers by 2030.

These shortfalls are driven by systemic problems in job quality, including insecure work, low pay and unsafe conditions. Women, young workers – including apprentices and trainees – and other marginalised groups face persistent barriers to entry, retention and progression, and are disproportionately affected by precarious contracts, lower wages and limited career pathways – all of which discourage long-term participation in the sector.

What effective HREDD requires

Transport does not have a labour supply problem. It has a decent work deficit. Transport buyers and suppliers are responsible for improving job quality and working conditions across their supply chains Working with trade unions is critical to strengthening recruitment, retention and long-term workforce sustainability. This means supporting training, skills development and career progression, removing barriers to entering and remaining in the sector, and promoting inclusive employment opportunities for groups historically underrepresented in transport: women, young workers, LGBT+ workers, workers with disabilities and workers from indigenous communities. 

For young workers, apprentices and trainees, this includes supporting quality apprenticeships, traineeships and transition-to-work pathways that provide fair remuneration, effective supervision, skills development, safe and healthy working conditions, and access to trade union representation, in line with ILO Recommendation No. 208 on Quality Apprenticeships. Companies can draw on the Youth Employment: Decent Work for Young Transport Workers in Supply Chains, which an implementation checklist and HREDD indicators to support the recruitment, retention, progression and meaningful participation of young workers throughout transport supply chains. 

Advancing decent work also requires addressing the interconnected risks set out elsewhere in this guidance – for example subcontracting and precarious employment – which undermine job security, safety and fair working conditions, and drive the challenges described here.