30 Under 30 Supply Chain Stars
This year marks a historic tipping point in US demographics. The Baby Boomers will be overtaken by the Millennials (18-32 year-olds) as the largest living generation, and nowhere will this be felt more than in the workforce. In fact, Millennials will comprise about 75 per cent of the workforce within 10 years. Research by ThomasNet suggests that employers’ perceptions of Millennials need to shift – most manufacturers (62 per cent) say Millennials represent a “small fraction” of their workforce, while eight out of 10 (81 per cent) say they have “no explicit plans” to increase these numbers. At the same time, 38 per cent of manufactures report that they plan to retire in one to ten years.
So, the answer seems obvious – businesses need to move fast to attract and retain Millennials before they find themselves in the midst of a major talent crisis. ISM and ThomasNet have joined forces to strike a major blow in procurement’s “war for talent” with the 30 Under 30 Supply Chain Stars initiative.
I’m sitting at a press conference with five of last year’s 30 Under 30 winners lined up in front an enthusiastic group containing many of their fellow winners – in fact, you could say that the future of US procurement is concentrated right here in this room. Today is all about putting a spotlight on the best young talent working in the supply chain to encourage more Millennials to enter the profession, excel like the panellists lined up before us, and tackle the looming demographic crisis head-on.
What’s more important, in my view, is that the professionals in front of me really buck the trend of negative stereotypes of “brattish” millennials. They’ve all climbed to impressive levels of responsibility for their age bracket and are poised to fill the void as Baby Boomers retire. We have Amy Alpren, Manager of Strategic Sourcing at CBS Corporation; Nick Ammaturo, Director of Profit Improvement and Procurement at Hudson’s Bay Company; Matt Bauer, Procurement Administrator at City of Mesa Arizona; Katy Conrad Maynor, Category Manager, Finished Lubricants/B2B, Shell Oil, and Weslet Whitney, Sourcing Specialist at Enterprise Products. They’re joined by Jami Bliss, Director of Global Procurement Program Management at Teva Pharmaceuticals, who was a nominator for the competition. Each one of the panellists shares with us the impact they’ve already made upon the profession, reeling off a list of combined achievement that would silence even the most vocal critic of their generation.
Following the event I catch up with another 30 Under 30 winner in the exhibition hall. Leah Halvorson is Director of Procurement & Supply Chain Development at Minneapolis Public Schools and very enthusiastic about the award. She tells me that she and the other winners have seen some amazing benefits flowing from 30 Under 30 – her peers have been offered job opportunities, scholarships and celebrity status at ISM and ThomasNet, but most importantly, they’ve had the opportunity to network with each other. Leah herself has had some fantastic recognition at her organisation, with senior executives congratulating her personally and career-boosting recognition in the company newsletter.
ISM and ThomasNet are already looking ahead to the next batch of 30 Under 30 Supply Chain Stars and expect to double the number of nominations this time around. This initiative has won the approval of businesses large and small across the US because it celebrates young talent, attracts more Millennials into the profession and, like the 30 Under 30 winners themselves, it has a bright future.
