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By Alex Lennane
An interesting interview in the WSJ with Mattel’s chief supply chain officer. The lack of talent and skills in the supply chain business, combined with less manufacturing in North America and Europe, Peter Gibbons notes the challenges for the business which keeps 50% of its manufacturing in-house. The company is now trying to train from a more junior level, rotate employees in different jobs or geographies, or move them from headquarters to plants. The challenge is mirrored across companies – in recent surveys of multinationals, 71% admitted difficulty recruiting senior leadership for supply chains and 43% said talent acquisition and development had been more difficult in 2014, up from 22% in 2011.
