Logistics: Italia faces a shortage of 60,000 professionals
On top of staff shortages, there is also a lack of warehouse automation: 65 per cent have no technology whatsoever
Key points
The Italian logistics sector is facing some serious structural challenges: on the one hand, there is a staff shortfall amounting to as many as 60,000 people; on the other, there is also a significant lack of automation in warehouses, 65 per cent of which have no technology whatsoever. The alarm has been raised by Andrea Franceschelli, vice-president and managing director of Bologna-based Due Torri SpA.
The logistics sector, the manager points out, is facing a shortage – as mentioned – of ‘around 60,000 professionals’, according to a figure established in the analyses of the Gino Marchet Contract Logistics Observatory at the Politecnico di Milano. This ‘talent gap’ forms part of a complex global context in which, according to the MHI Annual Industry Report, 90 per cent of supply chain organisations report suffering the negative impacts of labour shortages.
In 2026, 78,000 companies and revenues of 111.2 billion
In recent decades, however, ‘logistics has evolved from a purely operational activity into a strategic driver of competitiveness’. As highlighted by data from the Marchet Observatory, whilst in 2009, the sector comprised 114,500 companies with a turnover of 71.2 billion, today, in 2026, the number of companies has fallen to almost 78,000 but they generate higher revenues: a turnover of 111.2 billion; and, as Franceschelli points out, the share of third-party logistics has risen from 36.4 per cent to 43.3 per cent, thanks to digital platforms that enable data sharing, the introduction of scenario-simulation tools and the implementation of advanced AI systems. Third-party logistics has, however, had to contend with significant inflationary pressures, with increases since 2009 reaching +116 per cent for fuel, +46 per cent for electricity and +16 per cent for labour, against an average profitability (EBITDA) of 6 per cent.
Only 35% of storage facilities have a digitalisation solution
On the subject of warehousing, Franceschelli points out that, as highlighted in the Global Trade Observatory Annual Outlook Report, presented at the World Economic Forum in Davos, ‘39 per cent of global decision-makers surveyed identify storage hubs and warehouses as the number one strategic priority for infrastructure in the near future’. Furthermore, according to another study, the Global Supply Chain Resilience Report, “companies operating in inadequate storage facilities incur extra operating costs and suffer productivity losses amounting to 12 per cent of their total supply chain budget. This economic burden makes investment in modern hubs a financial necessity to safeguard corporate profit margins’.
Against this backdrop, the situation in Italia is not looking bright: data from the OSAM observatory (which focuses on analysing the industrial automation sector in Italy) show, in fact, that 65 per cent of warehouses do not have any automation technology, and only 35 per cent have integrated at least one process digitalisation solution.
