Labor Market Insights: Consumer Packaged Goods

Global Workforce Intelligence (GWI) Project Labor Market Insights Series CPG industry study cover

As the Josh Bersin Company team continues to research emerging trends and core truths of the Post-Industrial Age, the data shows that innovation will be a key business driver in years to come. For the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry, the talent makeup of the firm impacts the ability to become a Pacesetter, especially as it relates to achieving a constant innovation pipeline.

The newest Labor Market Insights study shows that three categories of capabilities differentiate Pacesetters from other organizations in their industry. In fact, the Pacesetter CPG companies continually perform in the top 10% of their industry and are highly skilled in these areas. They know how to build, borrow, or buy talent for each job role, and the mixed approach works. This capability framework includes:

Data Scientists: to design the right research that enables deep data analysis.
Product Marketers: to draw upon customer knowledge and product expertise to create the right branding.
Software Developers: to bring the right talent for the tech stack required to facilitate a B2C infrastructure.

In the report, we unveil the individual labor market demographics for these important skills. For example, CPG employs approximately 7% of the global population of product marketers. But did you know that organizations in this industry lack recruiting power for software developers and data scientists? The data exposed a troubling record of severe below-average salaries for these sought-after experts.

For this expansion of the Global Workforce Intelligence Project’s CPG industry study from earlier in 2023, Bersin Company researchers analyzed billions of data points about jobs, roles, skills, and salaries from Lightcast’s hybrid dataset derived from official government sources, such as the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, enriched with data from online social profiles, resumes, and job postings.

Moving beyond analysis, Bersin Company experts also determined an actionable strategic plan that organizations can leverage to become a Pacesetter in the CPG space. Pacesetters use a systemic HR approach that features attracting, hiring, retaining, and developing key skills in an integrated way across the entire company. Ultimately, systemic HR practices enable organizations to build long-term strength in these important, high-value, trending capabilities.

To review the Labor Market Insights: CPG Industry report and our recommendations, reach out to us. We know these are complex issues and that you might have intricacies within your company that require a unique lens. Through a Corporate Membership we can support you with expert guidance, direct access to our team, and our extensive research library.