Top Four Warehouse Staffing Challenges

It’s no secret that the warehouse industry is facing a staffing crisis. With the rising demand for online orders, warehouses are struggling to keep up with the influx of orders. This has put a strain on the already limited supply of trained warehouse staff.

This is made even more challenging because the warehouse industry is growing rapidly, which means that there is an ever-increasing demand for qualified workers.

In this post, we will look at the top warehouse staffing challenges and how warehouses can overcome them.

Top warehouse staffing challenges

From seasonal surges in demand to a lack of trained warehouse staff, the challenges that warehouses face are multiple.

Seasonal surges

In July 2021 alone, the warehouse industry had 490,000 open positions. Experts believe the warehouse staffing shortages will widen further with the holiday season and the associated increase in consumer spending. A survey shows that 35 percent of warehouses experience seasonal surges of 20 percent when it comes to warehouse staffing. The surge is as high as 100 percent for eight percent of warehouses.

Competition

The war for talent has affected almost all industries, whether it is light industrial staffing, technical recruitment, or warehouse staffing.

Given that there are a large number of warehouses concentrated in some areas, it is difficult for warehouses to differentiate themselves to attract workers.

Most warehouses are in medium to large metropolitan areas, unlike retail chains with access to the talent pool in smaller cities and rural areas.

High turnover

To compound these challenges, the nature of work in a warehouse can be physically demanding and challenging, which can make it difficult to attract and retain workers.

Workers typically work long hours apart from dealing with additional stress during holidays and other days when the demand is high for warehouse services.

These stressors contribute to a high turnover rate. While there was a 40.9 percent turnover rate in 2017 in warehousing, utilities, and transportation, the turnover rate reached 60 percent in 2020.

Lack of trained warehouse staff

The lack of trained warehouse staff has a ripple effect throughout the industry. It affects not only the warehouses themselves but also the companies that rely on them for their products. The shortage of trained warehouse staff has led to an increase in shipping times and errors. This is because the untrained staff is more likely to make mistakes when packing and processing orders.

The longer shipping times can lead to frustrated customers and lost business.

What warehouses can do to overcome these challenges

Despite these challenges, there are several strategies that warehouses can use to find and retain qualified employees.

These include:

offering flexible timings
ensuring competitive pay and benefits,
providing training and development opportunities, and
investing in technologies that can help to automate and streamline warehouse operations.

In addition, hiring a reputed warehouse staffing provider such as Everest Recruiting is vital to overcome staffing shortages.

As experts in warehouse staffing services, we have the experience and expertise necessary to identify the best candidates for the job. We use various screening and selection tools to ensure that only the most qualified candidates are hired. This helps improve employee retention rates and reduce turnover.