New research from UKWA, released during National Apprenticeship Week, has warned that a skills crisis threatens supply chain resilience and urges Government to include warehousing in upcoming reforms.
Our landmark policy paper “Building the Workforce of the Future”, calls on the Government to take urgent action to address the skills crisis facing Britain’s warehousing sector, setting out four practical recommendations to ensure the sector can continue to power the UK economy.
The logistics industry contributes £28.5 billion in Gross Value Added to the UK economy with warehousing alone employing more than 650,000 people. The sector has grown its footprint by over 61% in the past decade, yet according to UKWA’s Skills Survey (December 2025), a worrying 87% of warehousing employers reported difficulty recruiting staff, with over half anticipating critical skills shortages in automation and robotics within five years.
UKWA’s new policy paper argues that “the warehousing sector is the backbone of the UK economy, yet it faces a skills crisis that, if left unaddressed, will constrain productivity, hamper technological progress, and weaken the supply chains on which British businesses and consumers depend.”
Crucially, it reveals a stark funding gap at the heart of the problem: for each pound warehousing employers pay into the Apprenticeship Levy, they recover only 32 pence in funded training.
With unemployment at its highest level since the pandemic and 12.7% of young people aged 16 to 24 not in education, employment or training, warehousing clearly offers a significant opportunity to address national skills challenges while meeting the sector’s growing demand for talent.
The policy paper sets out four urgent recommendations for the government.
Firstly, it is vital that warehousing is included in the Growth and Skills Levy flexibility from April 2026.
Secondly, we’re looking to Government to approve and fund the Warehouse Manager Level 4 Apprenticeship.
Further to this, we are recommending the development of vocational pathways for warehousing and for Government to simplify the skills system for employers.
There is still a narrow window of opportunity. With Skills England still taking shape, the Growth and Skills Levy not yet finalised, and technical and vocational qualifications (T-levels and V-levels) being designed, we must ensure that warehousing is not left behind by Government in what promises to be the biggest shake-up to UK skills policy in a generation.
Our members want to invest in their people, but the current skills system does not serve them. Apprenticeships are currently too inflexible and sector-specific qualifications are too few.
UKWA is committed to working with Government to implement these recommendations and we stand ready to support the development of new qualifications and training pathways for the sector.
Clare Bottle
UKWA, CEO
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