CALL FOR CHAPTERS: IMPACTS OF AI ON EMPLOYMENT AND SKILLS IN LOGISTICS

The Department of Science, Technology and International Projects at the University of Economics and Finance is pleased to announce a timely and consequential international book project examining one of the most pressing workforce challenges of our era: how artificial intelligence is fundamentally reshaping employment, skills, and human dignity in the logistics sector.

Co-edited by UEF's Thinh Hoang and Professor Umair Tanveer from the University of Exeter, this initiative brings together global scholarship to address questions that affect millions of workers and shape the future of work itself.

The logistics sector stands at an inflection point. Autonomous vehicles navigate distribution networks. Artificial intelligence optimizes supply chains in real-time. Robots manage warehouses with precision impossible for human workers alone. These technological advances deliver unprecedented efficiency, cost reduction, and operational capability.

Yet beneath these innovations lies a more profound transformation: the wholesale reconfiguration of how humans participate in logistics work. Traditional roles are disappearing. New positions emerge that require skills previous generations never imagined. Workers face displacement without clear pathways to reskilling. Income inequality widens as high-skill technical roles diverge from routine operational positions. The human element—once central to logistics operations—must now redefine its value in an AI-augmented ecosystem.

This is not merely a technical or economic challenge. It is fundamentally a question about how societies balance technological progress with human welfare, how economies sustain inclusive growth amid automation, and how workers maintain agency and dignity in increasingly algorithmic environments.

Logistics represents far more than warehouse management or package delivery. It is the circulatory system of global commerce, connecting manufacturers to consumers, linking emerging economies to international markets, and sustaining supply chains that impact every sector of the global economy. How AI transforms employment in logistics therefore reverberates throughout economies worldwide.

For developing economies like Vietnam, where logistics innovation directly shapes industrial competitiveness and job creation, the stakes are particularly high. Understanding how AI impacts logistics employment—and how to manage this transition responsibly—is not academic abstraction. It is urgent policy and strategic necessity.

Yet scholarly understanding of these dynamics remains fragmented. Research on AI tends to focus on technological capability rather than human impact. Labor studies often lag behind technological change. Few voices systematically examine how logistics organizations can advance operational innovation while protecting worker livelihoods and developing human capacity.

This book project brings analytical rigor to these interconnected challenges, examining:

The employment transformation: Which logistics roles face genuine displacement? Which evolve into new configurations? What new job categories emerge? How do employment structures, wage hierarchies, and career pathways shift?

The skills imperative: What competencies do tomorrow's logistics workers need? How do technical, analytical, and human-centered skills coexist? Which reskilling strategies actually work? How do educational institutions prepare the logistics workforce of the future?

The human-machine interface: How do workers and AI systems collaborate effectively? What organizational cultures support productive coexistence rather than anxiety-driven resistance? Where does human judgment remain irreplaceable?

The equity dimension: Does AI-driven logistics amplify or ameliorate labor market inequality? How do benefits and burdens distribute across skill levels, geographies, and demographic groups? Who gets left behind in the transition?

The policy landscape: How should governments regulate AI adoption in logistics? What reskilling support should societies provide? How do labor regulations evolve to protect workers while enabling innovation?

The comparative context: How do AI impacts on logistics employment differ across developed and developing economies? What lessons from advanced economies apply to emerging markets? What unique challenges do developing countries face?

Contributors will integrate three complementary approaches:

Theoretical depth: Chapters advancing conceptual understanding of labor dynamics, technological adoption, and human capital development in logistics.

Empirical evidence: Research documenting actual employment impacts, skill transitions, and workforce outcomes in specific logistics organizations and sectors.

Practice-oriented insights: Case studies, best practices, and strategic frameworks that logistics organizations, policymakers, and educators can apply immediately.

This multifaceted approach ensures the publication informs both scholarly discourse and real-world decision-making, bridging the gap between academic research and organizational strategy.

The project deliberately solicits contributions from logistics practitioners, human resource professionals, labor economists, technology specialists, and workers' advocates. This diversity ensures that technical insights coexist with on-the-ground realities, that management perspectives encounter worker viewpoints, and that developed-economy experiences inform understanding of emerging-market contexts.

For Vietnam specifically, this research agenda has extraordinary timeliness and importance. Vietnam's logistics sector—increasingly central to regional supply chains and foreign direct investment—faces accelerating AI adoption. Understanding how to manage this transition successfully—creating high-skill technical roles while supporting displaced workers, attracting foreign investment while protecting labor standards, advancing technological leadership while maintaining social cohesion—directly shapes Vietnam's economic future.

UEF's leadership in this project positions the institution and its researchers as thought leaders on one of Southeast Asia's most consequential economic challenges.

Published by IGI Global Scientific Publishing, a premier international academic publisher, the book reaches a global audience of scholars, policymakers, corporate leaders, and educators. Double-blind peer review ensures rigorous quality standards. Comprehensive indexing maximizes research visibility and impact, ensuring insights influence both academic debate and policy deliberation.

The publication schedule provides realistic timeframes for thoughtful research contribution:

The compressed timeline reflects the urgent need for contemporary scholarship on this topic while maintaining rigorous peer review standards.

Research significance: Few scholarly venues directly address AI's impact on logistics employment. Contributing positions researchers at the frontier of emerging scholarship on the future of work.

Policy influence: This research will inform decisions by logistics organizations, policymakers, and educators. Your scholarship can shape how societies navigate AI's employment impacts.

International collaboration: Working alongside leading scholars from Vietnam, the United Kingdom, and beyond strengthens networks and opens doors to future research partnerships.

Career advancement: Publication in an internationally recognized edited volume by IGI Global enhances academic credentials, supports promotion and funding applications, and establishes expertise in a strategically important field.

Institutional impact: UEF's leadership in this project—with co-editor Thinh Hoang directing the initiative—elevates the institution's profile as a center for research on critical economic challenges.

Timeliness: AI's impact on logistics employment represents one of the most pressing economic questions of this decade. Contributing now positions researchers as early voices shaping scholarly and policy discourse.

The Department of Science, Technology and International Projects provides full support:

Scholars from logistics, supply chain management, labor economics, human resources, technology studies, and policy fields are warmly invited to participate. Interdisciplinary perspectives are particularly welcome—this topic demands dialogue across traditional disciplinary boundaries.

Interested researchers are encouraged to contact the editors with initial research ideas before developing formal proposals.

Dr. Thinh Hoang, Co-Editor

Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics and Finance

Email: thinhhg@uef.edu.vn

Professor Umair Tanveer, Co-Editor

University of Exeter, United Kingdom

 

Technological progress is inevitable. But how societies navigate AI's impact on human employment is not predetermined—it depends on informed scholarship, responsible policy deliberation, and thoughtful organizational practice. This book project contributes directly to these crucial conversations.

As logistics organizations worldwide adopt AI technologies, as workers face uncertain career trajectories, and as policymakers grapple with labor protection and economic competitiveness, scholarly voices that integrate technical understanding with human-centered analysis become essential.

UEF invites you to contribute your expertise to this defining conversation about the future of work in logistics. For more information: https://www.igi-global.com/publish/call-for-papers/call-details/9368

Contact the Department of Science, Technology and International Projects to explore how your research can advance this critical initiative