It’s hard to find workers for warehouse picking, packing, and shipping positions these days, and as a result, many companies are turning to automated solutions, including robots, to help close the gaps in their operations. That strategy doesn’t eliminate the need for people, however—a factor that is spurring companies to simultaneously explore other technology-driven approaches to finding and keeping workers.
But it isn’t easy. Part of the problem in hiring warehouse workers in 2023 is that more and more potential employees are looking for flexible schedules, which is outside the traditional warehouse culture of rigid shift work. Shifting labor demographics and the so-called “gig economy” are driving the change in logistics and in the broader workplace, according to recent research from industrial staffing firm EmployBridge. The company’s 2023 Voice of the American Workforce survey report found that four-day, 10-hour shifts and the ability to work shorter, four- to six-hour shifts of their choosing are becoming more appealing to workers across all industries.
“Major forces of societal change, including the pandemic, inflation, and a generational workforce shift, are transforming the fabric of the workplace,” EmployBridge CEO Billy Milam said in a statement announcing the survey’s findings this spring. “Wage earners are increasingly digitally savvy, eager to gain skills for an automated world, and desirous of schedules that allow them to flex their time to add more work or balance personal demands. Employers, facing an ongoing worker shortage, have a prime opportunity to evolve to thrive in this new paradigm.”
That evolution will require embracing software tools that can help companies manage the change and keep in step with an increasingly technology-enabled warehouse.
FLEX TIME, PLEASE
The EmployBridge report surveyed more than 29,000 hourly wage earners in the United States across a range of industries, and identified pay as the top concern for job seekers in 2023. The survey also found that workers are placing a higher priority on job security and learning opportunities than in recent years, and that they show “substantial interest in joining the gig economy and in supporting app-based work.” EmployBridge defines the “gig economy” as one in which workers keep a schedule that is less traditional than a five-day work week.
Logistics industry employees are no exception to the trend. Roughly 35% of logistics workers surveyed said they would prefer four-day, 10-hour shifts, and more than half of all workers said they are interested in a schedule that would allow them to choose which four- to six-hour shifts they want to work. More than 80% of hourly workers across all verticals said they were willing to use an app to manage their work, choose their schedule, or find a job, according to the survey.
These factors point to growing demand for flexibility, a trend that has taken off since the pandemic and is beginning to hit warehousing as companies struggle to find workers.
“Labor is one of the biggest challenges facing warehousing and logistics—finding enough, keeping enough, and engaging with [people],” says Gartner Inc.’s Dwight Klappich, a research vice president and fellow in the market research firm’s logistics and customer fulfillment team.
This becomes more challenging in regions where companies must draw from nontraditional labor sources—including stay-at-home parents or teenagers seeking part-time work—to fill their ranks, a situation Klappich says he’s seen among companies with large distribution centers in remote areas, for example. In such cases, tapping into a more diverse labor pool becomes essential—and requires companies to rethink their view of work.
“Flexibility is certainly a key [in warehousing and logistics] now,” Klappich says. “Companies have realized that power has shifted to the employee. These are not dream jobs for people, so companies realize they have to do more to not only attract and retain people, but [also] to motivate people. So when we talk about employee engagement, flexibility is going to be one of those things.”
Matt Laurinas, chief customer officer for Bluecrew, an EmployBridge subsidiary that operates a workforce management platform, agrees, citing the Covid-19 pandemic as the source of much of the change. Companies couldn’t find workers who wanted to be on site at all, much less for the standard five-day-per-week shifts, whether short or long term. As opportunities arose to work remotely or in the service-based gig economy, many potential employees abandoned their nine-to-five existence for new opportunities, shrinking the available labor pool.
Now things have to change in the warehouse, he says.
“There are a lot of workers that need more flexibility” than traditional work schedules allow, Laurinas says. “It becomes a challenge for the workplace. Managers see a lot of churn, absenteeism, [and] no-calls or no-shows. [Companies] need tools that give them the ability to post more flexible schedules, to meet the worker where they’re at.”
Supply chain software solutions and technology platforms are one way to manage the change.
MORE WORKERS, NOW
Most warehouses have yet to switch to flexible scheduling, but they are all accustomed to dealing with demands to flex up and down for seasonal peaks and troughs—and there are solutions out there that can help with both. Workforce management (WFM) software has been around for many years and can help managers get a better handle on scheduling in general. Systems that handle complex, flexible scheduling are more common to the retail and health-care industries, but they are a growing part of many supply chain software vendors’ menu of technology tools, especially as companies face “mini-peaks” driven by projects or special promotions that place greater demands on warehouses and DCs. Supply chain tech provider Blue Yonder offers a WFM solution that helps companies address challenges with scheduling, time and attendance, regulatory compliance, and long-term planning, for instance. Among its capabilities, the solution helps companies generate optimized labor schedules that are compliant with labor laws and corporate policies. It also addresses today’s demand for flexibility: Managers can adjust schedules mid-week if business demands change, and employees can swap or bid on shifts according to their needs and personal schedules.
More recent entrants to the workforce management scene include companies like Bluecrew, which operates what Laurinas describes as a workforce-as-a-service technology platform that gives companies instant access to qualified pre-screened W-2 workers. The platform helps logistics and warehousing companies manage seasonal fluctuations in fulfillment demand, matching companies with employees for both long- and short-term assignments. Bluecrew specializes in workers that have experience in light industrial work, including picking, packing, and shipping, as well as operating warehouse equipment. Laurinas says about 80% of Bluecrew’s work is in distribution and logistics.
“The workforce is joining platforms [like ours] for flexibility, for variability in shifts, and to have variety when picking shifts and jobs,” Laurinas explains.
Such tech platforms work in much the same way as traditional staffing agencies, which warehouses and DCs have long turned to for seasonal help. The difference is in the platform’s ability to respond to today’s volatile production demands, Laurinas says.
“Companies had more leadtime in placing orders for workers in the past. In today’s economic environment, there are more demands on the warehouse and, often, [companies] are not getting a good read on demand for production until one or three days in advance,” he says. “[Workforce technology] platforms can very quickly connect the worker to the job once the customer has [identified] that need.”
That’s thanks to a database of pre-vetted workers and a growing list of industrial clients that need them. Bluecrew’s technology is driven by machine learning algorithms that match workers to jobs. Employers get 24/7 access to the platform and to scheduling tools that can help them create shifts and scale up and down to meet demand. Both desktop and app-based versions are available to make it easier for managers and workers to access the platform.
Another bonus: Workforce management technologies are helping companies make progress along their “digital transformation” journeys.
“As I talk to a lot of executives, they’re thinking about ‘digital’ in a lot of capacities,” Laurinas explains, noting that warehouse automation and robotics go hand-in-hand with administrative technologies that are also designed to streamline operations and create a more efficient warehouse. “It all blends into one. Here’s how you can digitalize ordering workers and managing your workforce. This plugs right into the [trend of] digital disruption in the warehouse.”
