Kriska Scholarship Essay Example

📌Category: Education, Scholarship
📌Words: 804
📌Pages: 3
📌Published: 02 September 2021

For my family, the transportation industry provides a source of income, and a source of stability for that income. Covid has highlighted the importance of the transportation industry and those who work in it through our collective reliance on it throughout the pandemic. When people were panic buying, the transportation industry was able to continue to deliver products to stores. When stores were closed or restricted, the transportation industry delivered products that were ordered for delivery. Without it, the pandemic could have looked substantially worse.

Considering the past year, there could be a very useful angle to use to attract and retain new hires in the transportation industry; flexibility and remoteness. Of course, there would need to be at least some research into if young people as a demographic prefer to work remotely or flexibly, and even then, certain positions cannot facilitate either or both of those. For the sake of argument however, office-based jobs can easily be done remotely and are likely the easiest to apply this angle to. I would assume that drivers already have a degree of flexibility, and it would be a bit difficult to remotely drive a truck, though I have limited knowledge exactly how drivers could be affected by more flexible or remote working. Much like drivers, mechanics are obviously not able to benefit from either of those, though I a mechanic has either as a priority due to the nature of the work. Considering the opposite view, it could also be possible to emphasise working in office if public opinion in the demographic sways in that direction. With many employers opting to allow at least partial working from home (relative to before the pandemic), if the demographic leans towards working in office, then advertising a focus on in office work could be beneficial. There is also the possibility that there is a negligible amount of people who would prefer to work remotely in any capacity. In that case, the focus would need to be shifted elsewhere to try to retain younger employees, though advertising that remote positions are available might pique interest more than if it were not an option. 

Additionally, as a result of the pandemic, there seems to be a trend towards doing more online shopping. If this continues to be a trend after the pandemic has mostly passed, then there may be an opportunity for the transportation industry to grow. Having more jobs available in the transportation industry, along with increased unemployment within the younger demographic, bodes well for hiring in the industry from the demographic, assuming that the industry has the potential to expand in the wake of the pandemic. If this is combined with other factors that have been considered from the pandemic, then it may be possible that a combination of factors that would be considered for retainment, creating a middle ground where the industry is able to hire more workers and younger workers are more likely to stay with the company or industry.

Overall, an easy way of getting an idea of how to get younger people into the industry is to look at how they were affected by, and reacted to, the pandemic. Large disruptions in any process are good indicators as to what can and should be prioritised. Did the demographic take well to working from home? If yes, emphasise that it is an option when hiring from the demographic. Did the demographic like flexibility brought on by the pandemic? If yes, then emphasise that there can be flexibility. The pandemic offers a very rare opportunity for the general way we work to broadly be changed, even if it might be something as simple as having all staff work from home one day per week. By looking at working practises that changed during the pandemic, it should be possible to identify what should be adopted going forwards. 

To summarise, the most relevant way to attract young people to the transportation industry, at least coming out of the pandemic, is to look at the trends that occurred as we leave it behind us. By understanding what young people want coming out of the pandemic, it may be possible to adjust jobs to better suit them, especially with global employment having been fundamentally shaken by the pandemic. With traditional working practises mostly being suspended, or at least partially, there is an opportunity for employers to make adjustments to improve upon anything that can be improved upon. Additionally, it may be possible to capitalise on current unemployment levels and potential growth in the transportation industry. If there is a significant number of available jobs in the transportation industry, and there are also a significant number of young people seeking employment, then there is likely to be a middle ground where both parties can be happy. Identifying changes that can be made coming out of the pandemic is not only beneficial to attracting new hires to the industry, but also to retainment. While something like a higher starting wage may be appealing when applying for a job, that is also a short-term benefit. Being able to work from home if you prefer, or need to, holds lasting appeal, especially if the employee is able to shift around how much they work from home.

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