Archiwa workforce

6 August 2025

The Packer – A Crucial Yet Overlooked Player in Global Logistics

Marta Bober International Move, Moving & Relocations, MovingIndustry, Transport, workforce movers, moving, packer

📦 The Packer – A Crucial Yet Overlooked Player in Global Logistics

The relocation industry in 2025 is undergoing rapid transformation. Cost pressures, labor shortages, ESG demands, and rising client expectations are forcing companies to rethink how they operate – and how they perceive key roles, including one of the most essential yet often undervalued: the packer.

5 Key Forces Shaping the Relocation Market

1. Labor Shortages and the Demographic Crisis
Across Europe, particularly in CEE countries, there is a growing shortage of manual workers. The relocation and logistics sectors are short by an estimated 50,000 people – mainly drivers, warehouse staff, and packers. An aging population and declining birth rates mean this gap is widening. Companies are competing for a shrinking pool of candidates, making it difficult to meet seasonal demand and retain skilled workers.

2. Rising Employment Costs and Talent Competition
Polish workers remain highly sought after for their experience, mobility, and work ethic. However, their numbers are decreasing, leading to fierce competition among employers and rising costs in recruitment, onboarding, and retention. Wage expectations are increasing, and high employee turnover is making it harder to maintain service quality.

3. Limits of Automation – The Human Touch Is Still Irreplaceable
While automation is advancing rapidly in warehousing and transport, packing still requires human presence – physical strength, precision, and intuition. Packing a client’s belongings (often valuable or fragile) is an unpredictable, highly variable process. Without trained, engaged packers, safe and efficient relocations simply aren’t possible.

4. Growing ESG Pressure and Compliance Requirements
Clients – especially corporates – now expect relocations with minimal carbon footprint, full operational transparency, and detailed ESG reporting. This pushes companies to adopt standards, procedures, and digital tools that track every stage of the process – from packing to delivery.

5. Low Market Awareness and the Need for Professionalization
Relocation is still too often perceived as mere “transport of belongings.” In reality, it’s a complex logistical operation involving people, systems, international law, and safety protocols. Yet the industry lacks unified standards, certifications, and market education. This limits opportunities to build a true competitive edge.

🎯 The Packer – Not a Helper or Mover, but a Key Operational Expert

In 2025, the packer is emerging as a strategic role – someone who:

Ensures the safety and quality of the entire relocation process,
Collaborates with drivers, coordinators, and IT systems,
Often has the final interaction with the client, directly influencing satisfaction,
Takes responsibility for potential damage and on-time service delivery.

🌍 Conclusion: Packing Is Now a Strategic Element of the Relocation Chain

In a world facing labor shortages and rising expectations, it’s the “invisible” operational roles that gain strategic importance. The packer is no longer just the person “carrying boxes.” They are a vital team member who directly determines the success of any move.

At our company, we see this every day – and that’s why we invest in people, grow, train, listen, and change the rules of the game.

👉 How about your company?
Does your packing team have access to support, and growth opportunities?

#Relocation #Packing #Logistics2025 #ESG #Compliance #WorkforceCrisis #MovingIndustry #TMS #HRStrategy #LogisticsOperations #Professionalization

27 June 2025

Physical Work in the Age of AI: Stability in an Unstable World

Marta Bober AI, Arkpol Group, workforce futureofwork, MovingIndustry, recruitment, workforce

In a world racing toward automation, AI, and digital transformation, one surprising trend is emerging: physical and technical jobs may be the most stable path forward. While headlines focus on white-collar jobs being replaced by chatbots or algorithms, moving companies, logistics firms, and transport operators are all asking the same urgent question: where are the people willing to do the actual work?

The Labor Shortage Is Real — and Global

Across Europe and the U.S., moving and logistics companies are struggling to find and retain skilled hands. Industry reports consistently highlight the same issues:

High turnover rates (often exceeding 70%),
An aging workforce heading into retirement,
Younger generations avoiding manual roles altogether.

This is not just an HR problem — it directly impacts service quality, scheduling, customer satisfaction, and profitability.

Why Are Fewer People Choosing Physical Work?

There’s a shift in how work is perceived:

Young people are drawn to remote, tech-driven careers, often seeing physical labor as low status, low growth, or simply outdated.
Physical jobs can be demanding, especially in extreme weather or urban environments.
Educational systems still funnel students into white-collar career paths, despite increasing demand for skilled trades.

And yet, we can’t relocate a family, disassemble furniture, or carry appliances down narrow staircases with an app.

What About Technology? Isn’t AI Going to Replace These Jobs?

Not anytime soon — and maybe not at all.

Yes, robotics and AI are transforming many aspects of logistics. Automated warehouses, AI-assisted route planning, and remote surveys are becoming standard. Some companies have even deployed humanoid robots in test environments. But here’s the reality:

Robots can stack boxes in warehouses. They cannot (yet) navigate old apartment buildings or empathize with a stressed-out customer.
AI can optimize routes, but it doesn’t carry sofas or install beds.

Most importantly, even as technology evolves, it often creates new forms of labor — not less. But these new roles tend to be volatile. Today’s AI engineer or automation specialist might be replaced in five years by a newer tool or self-updating system. The skill you learn today may not be relevant tomorrow.

Meanwhile, someone who knows how to safely handle, pack, move, and set up household goods? Their work remains valuable, irreplaceable — and human.

A Different Kind of Job Security

Ironically, physical and technical work may offer more long-term security than many trendy office roles.

It can’t be fully outsourced or automated.
It’s always in demand — people and goods still move.
It offers real, visible impact. You see the results of your work every day.

When supported by proper tools, fair pay, and clear growth paths, jobs in moving and logistics can be more than “just labor.” They can be careers.

So How Do We Attract the Next Generation?

This is the real challenge — and the opportunity. To bring in younger workers, we have to change the narrative.

✅ Tell real stories.
Show how someone went from loading boxes to leading teams or managing international operations.

✅ Be honest and respectful.
Yes, the work is demanding. But it also builds strength, confidence, and transferable skills.

✅ Use the right channels.
If you want to reach 20-somethings, forget flyers or long job ads. Try short TikToks, Reels, or behind-the-scenes videos showing “a day on the job.”

✅ Invest in smart training.
Not just lifting techniques, but communication, basic tech, and career development. This isn’t just a job — it can be a launchpad.

✅ Frame it with purpose.
Helping people move homes is personal. It’s stressful. It matters. This kind of work creates trust and builds community.

Final Thought: People + Tools = Future

The future of work won’t be about humans or machines. It will be about humans with machines. In that equation, skilled physical workers — especially those who are supported by tech, respected by employers, and proud of what they do — will remain essential.

In an economy that’s constantly shifting, being good with your hands might just be the most future-proof skill of all.