PLOVER, Wis. — The percentage of female professionals in human resources and talent management roles within the commercial freight transportation industry has reached an all-time high, according to new data highlighted in the Women In Trucking Association’s (WIT) recently released WIT Index.
The WIT Index serves as an industry barometer to benchmark and measure the percentage of women who make up critical roles in transportation each year.
The 2022 WIT Index shows that 74.9% of human resources and talent management roles in transportation companies are filled by women.
In addition, approximately 49% of respondents reported that 90% or more of professionals in their human resources and talent management positions are women. Another 34% say that between 50% and 90% of their human resources and talent management professionals are women.
Approximately 11% report that women comprise 10% to 50% of human resources and talent management roles, while 6% report having no women in human resources-related roles.
Traditionally, human resources and talent management disciplines have been long perceived as a female-oriented profession, primarily because of the skill sets requirement in the field, according to Ellen Voie, president and CEO of WIT’s president.
According to WIT, women are typically more skilled in this area because they are commonly considered to have a better emotional intelligence score than men. Critical skills in this discipline that are more commonly held by women include multitasking, leadership, planning, communication and human relations skills.
“Women have always been visible in the areas of human resources and talent management, but we want to see these figures increase as more women find careers in the transportation industry,” Voie said.
Initiated in 2016, the WIT Index is comprised of average percentages of females in various roles that are reported by companies in transportation, including predominantly for-hire trucking companies, private fleets, transportation intermediaries, railroads, ocean carriers, equipment manufacturers and technology companies. This data was confidentially gathered from January through April 2022 from 180 participating companies and percentages are reported only as aggregate totals of respondents.
Along with its traditional benchmark percentages among HR/talent management, leadership and professional drivers in commercial freight transportation, WIT this year has expanded its collection on the percentage of women to include operations, technicians, sales and marketing.
For more information on the WIT Index and to download a full executive summary of the 2022 WIT Index findings, visit https://www.womenintrucking.org/index.
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