Despite the crisis, logistics is still hiring! Interview with Renaud Bouet, Group HR Director at ID Logistics

Renaud Bouet: Every year, for more than 20 years, we have recruited between 800 and 1,000 people in France. This year again, we plan to make 900 hires, mainly on permanent contracts. These hires are linked to the opening of new logistics sites in several regions that are strategic for us.

About 80% are “operations” profiles, such as order pickers and forklift operators. But we are also looking for skills in supporting functions—HR administration, safety, IT, management, and more. Jobs in “operations” are generally, and probably wrongly, considered unskilled, even though some require technical know-how and certification or qualifications. It is true that there are few barriers to entry, and that is precisely what enables strong career progression. It is possible to start in a low-skilled role and then become—if one has the desire and opportunity—a team leader, operations manager, or even a site manager. To support this, we seek to encourage internal mobility through a process in which each employee is monitored by their manager at every level of the organization, identifying skills and development needs, providing ongoing training to maintain a high level of competence, and supporting talented employees who want to and can progress.

Renaud Bouet: First of all, it is worth recalling that the use of temporary workers is primarily driven by fluctuations in the volumes we handle on behalf of our clients and the need to manage peaks and variations. Beyond the flexibility it gives the company, it also represents a certain investment in training every new hire and developing their skills.

Then, when we achieve a more detailed view of these volumes and our ability to anticipate them, and to plan our staffing needs, we can offer to convert certain temporary contracts into permanent contracts.

That said, it is not always the type of contract candidates are looking for anymore... Increasingly, they turn down this offer of permanent employment, mainly for reasons of flexibility, but also because they ultimately see no particular benefit in it. It is therefore up to us to enhance the value of our social model and develop a corporate model that could lead them to prefer a permanent contract.

Renaud Bouet: On average, we have 42,000 full-time-equivalent employees worldwide, including both permanent and temporary staff. But during activity peaks, we can reach 51,000 people in our warehouses, relying on even more fixed-term contracts than during the rest of the year. In France, we have around 7,500 permanent employees, and the number of employees can rise to 11,000—for example, in December during the year-end holiday season.

Renaud Bouet: The logistics labor market can indeed be tight, both in terms of the number of people available and their skills, especially when we open a new site and need to recruit 500 people at once. With a few rare exceptions, however, we manage to do so, provided we can encourage people from outside the sector to try these jobs. We work with France Travail to raise awareness of them, and we offer on-site training. In addition, we need to develop the talent pool ourselves, internally and externally, with the short, medium, and long term all in mind.

Over the medium and long term, in 2025, for example, the Group is offering around one hundred work-study contracts in France, across all its professions: operational and logistics roles, support and administrative functions, as well as IT, digitalization, and logistics engineering. In addition, we continue to develop the V.I.E. (International Corporate Volunteer Program), enabling young talent to undertake assignments in one of the 18 countries where we operate. The opportunity to gain international experience can motivate candidates to apply to our sector.

Renaud Bouet: When a site is not close to a major city and/or public transportation does not allow employees to travel easily, it can be difficult to find candidates. For applicants, this may also stem from a lack of familiarity with the sector and its jobs. “Logistics bashing” does not help us either. People wrongly speak of low-skilled, unrewarding jobs and difficult working conditions. Yet logistics occupations are constantly innovating and evolving. Automation and mechanization reduce physical strain in warehouses and also create new staffing needs. Today, for example, we need more technicians to manage equipment, handle maintenance, and so on. The fact that ours is a sector that recruits heavily and regularly can also lead to local labor pools drying up.

Renaud Bouet: We offer sustainable, rewarding career opportunities in a constantly evolving sector, and we are putting everything in place to improve quality of working life by enhancing workplace safety and ergonomics. We are also considering greater flexibility in work schedules, with “à la carte” hours when the nature of the activity allows it. We also support our employees in V.A.E. (recognition of prior learning) processes, enabling them to turn their experience into degrees or certifications.