In Production & Logistics, everything revolves around precision. Raw materials, machinery, vehicles: they are planned and coordinated down to the finest detail. But when it comes to the most important asset, people, things often run less smoothly. That’s precisely where the costs arise. These aren’t directly visible on the balance sheet, but are certainly felt in daily operations.
Absence and Shortage
The logistics sector is under considerable pressure. Research by Dujob reveals that one in three companies cites staff shortages as their greatest challenge. At the same time, sickness absence is worryingly high according to Statistics Netherlands (CBS): the average absence rate in the logistics and transport sector stood at 6.3% in 2024, whilst the average sickness absence in the Netherlands was 4.9% (Dujob, 2024).
What’s particularly striking: no less than 38% of absence in the sector is work-related. This is almost twice the national average of 19%. The combination of irregular shifts, volatile staffing demand, and an ageing workforce makes it increasingly difficult to achieve watertight scheduling. And when that fails, costs, work pressure, and staff turnover only continue to rise (CBS, 2024).
The pressure is also high in the production sector. In 2023, sickness absence here averaged 6.1%, which is considerably above the average in other sectors. In 2024, absence was even the highest within industry, according to ArboNed and HumanCapitalCare. Employees are absent more frequently and for longer periods, partly due to physically demanding work, irregular shifts, and high work pressure. This makes it more difficult to create proper workforce planning.
Growing Complexity
These figures show that many production and logistics companies are struggling with the growing complexity of workforce planning. Changing customer demand, a tight labour market, high absence figures, and staff shortages force organisations to maintain maximum flexibility. At the same time, many schedules remain based on static models, Excel spreadsheets, or outdated systems.
This leads to poor alignment between workload and staff deployment. The consequences are well known: scheduling too many people leads to unprofitable wage costs. Too few available people results in delayed deliveries, stress on the shop floor, and missed deadlines. What’s often overlooked here are the indirect consequences that gradually accumulate. It’s precisely these that have a substantial financial impact. Consider inefficiency in staff deployment, or cost overruns in production due to poor coordination between rosters and workload.
Furthermore, poor workforce planning directly affects motivation. Those who are deployed too often become overloaded. Those who repeatedly have to work unsociable hours quickly feel undervalued. This dissatisfaction translates into reduced commitment, mounting frustration, and ultimately staff turnover.
What Does an Inefficient Roster Cost?
Consider this: an experienced forklift driver is unexpectedly absent. Their fixed gross monthly salary is €2,747, but to keep operations running, a temporary worker is hired. According to Chamber of Commerce guidelines, a temporary worker costs on average two to three times the gross salary. Let’s assume 2.5 times. This means you’ll pay approximately €6,870 for one month’s replacement.
However, it doesn’t stop there. The replacement is new to the shop floor, doesn’t yet know the processes, needs training, and works less efficiently. In the first weeks, a productivity loss of 25% is quite normal. You’re then paying €1,717.50 for work that isn’t completed or is only partially completed. Meanwhile, colleagues are spending time training the new employee – reckon on at least 10 hours’ supervision at €35 per hour, or €350 extra.
Cost Item Temporary Worker Employee
Salary €6870 €2747
Productivity Loss €1717 €0
Supervision €350 €0
Total €8937 €2747
Table: Hidden costs of staff absence
In total, you’ll quickly pay over €8,937 extra for replacing one employee per month. And we haven’t even mentioned the indirect damage yet: stagnation in the logistics process, delayed deliveries, lost customer satisfaction, and increased work pressure on the rest of the team. You won’t see these costs reflected in your roster, but you’ll certainly feel them in your margin.
The Complexity of Planning
Despite all the technological possibilities, almost 40% of companies in logistics and production still work with Excel or other manual planning methods. Why? Because it’s become a habit and because it appears to provide overview. But appearances are deceptive. Excel doesn’t show real-time absence or exceeded contract hours, let alone collective agreement arrangements or unexpected gaps in the schedule. That costs money.
The complexity of workforce planning in Production and Logistics can no longer be captured in spreadsheets or fixed rosters. What appears to be a watertight schedule today is already outdated tomorrow due to absence, rush orders, or unexpected delays. Those who only react when things go wrong are structurally behind the facts. Research by PwC from 2024 emphasises the importance of strategic workforce planning and suggests that organisations can increase their productivity by as much as 30% by improving this (PwC, 2024).
How Workforce Management Makes the Difference
Particularly in a sector where processes are timed to the second, it’s peculiar that workforce planning often happens with so little data-driven approach. Dyflexis’s Workforce Management software brings change to this. The intelligent, real-time planning automatically adapts to the situation on the shop floor. Is someone ill? Does the order flow change? The software anticipates changes: automatically and flawlessly.
Thanks to automatic planning, you prevent under- or over-staffing, limit overtime, and maintain control of your wage costs. Managers no longer need to constantly chase the facts; they adjust proactively based on current data. And perhaps even more importantly: employees regain peace of mind and clarity, which visibly benefits their job satisfaction and your staff retention.
By cleverly combining current data such as absence, order volumes, seasonal influences, and contractual agreements, you have a dynamic Workforce Management model that continuously adjusts. This approach provides greater efficiency in staff deployment, allowing you to respond better to changing circumstances without incurring unnecessary costs. The result? Fewer surprises, better control, and a way to structurally reduce your wage costs without compromising on quality or job satisfaction.
Are you curious how Dyflexis can help your organisation regain control of personnel, costs, and continuity? Request a demo and experience the difference.
