Fast Moving Consumer Goods covers the retail sector, where products sell quickly at relatively low cost. Confectionery, soft drinks and perishable items such as meat and bakery goods and clothing items such as socks and underwear come within FMCG. They have a short shelf life, are swiftly consumed and require high volume sales due to low-profit margins per item. The FMCG sector is the most extensive product sector, with around a quarter of the world’s biggest and best-known brands operating within. It is also responsible for more than half of all consumer spending and is a sector purchased from regularly by almost the entire world population. Therefore, it is no surprise that this sector is busy and sees considerable success. Efficiency within FMCG companies is essential and mean businesses must rely on robust supply chains, wise buying and high sales volumes if they are to succeed. They must overcome logistical issues, keeping control of purchasing decisions and overheads.
Challenges
Brexit left businesses within the FMCG sector challenges that went beyond those ever predicted. Whilst businesses were gearing towards new paperwork requirements for importing and exporting goods, the unforeseen logistical difficulties left many organisations unprepared. The FMCG sector is particularly at risk from failing supply chains and transport issues when moving goods, particularly those with short shelf life and high-volume distribution.
One of the biggest challenges has been the shortage of lorry drivers. Brexit caused citizenship and work permit issues. Add to that, the pandemic and many lorry drivers and other FMCG sector workers left the UK in droves and are not returning in numbers sufficient to move the required number of goods around or keep production and dispatch moving as it should. This and a general skills shortage, from farm hands, fruit and veg pickers, meat processing and other workers mean short supply has led to many supply chain problems throughout the sector.
How can we overcome FMCG challenges?
FMCG recruitment consultants see 2022 as the year that hiring a specialist purchasing manager aware of and having the required knowledge and expertise to overcome environmental and local issues that businesses face will find the right way forward.
A purchasing manager will bring the expertise to evaluate and identify suppliers who meet the needs of the business, whether that is in goods for the company to use or resell. They negotiate contracts, manage the logistics of buying and distributing products on the best terms and have experience identifying and interviewing prospective suppliers to ensure that quality, supply and shipping issues are resolved before contracts are signed. Their market knowledge will enable them to predict what will appeal to customers, identify or drive trends and markets that will benefit the business.
Recruiting the right people for the job
Innovation and new challenges will continue throughout 2022 and most definitely beyond as businesses learn how to operate post-Brexit and Covid-19. Consumer attitudes are changing, and the market and shopping habits are changing more quickly than at any time for some time. Millennials are undoubtedly the new dominant consumer group. Sustainable and eco-friendly methods require specialist knowledge that a technical recruitment consultancy is ideally placed to help businesses achieve.
From purchasing or supply chain managers, manufacturing and distribution, robotics and automation, the FMCG sector will need to recruit and retain the best talent, to emerge from Covid-19 and Brexit more robust and achieve growth in the future. Recruitment can be a daunting prospect, challenging to identify the ideal candidate when faced with an array of candidates and it is definitely time-consuming. That is where specialist FMCG recruiters can help. FMCG specialist recruiters will identify the best candidates from a vetted database to offer a faster more targeted approach to recruiting the best talent, whether looking for permanent or contract staff. They could also help business know what incentives to offer to secure the candidates who look for more than just a salary in this competitive job market.
