A huge rise in ecommerce has fuelled the need for warehouse workers, but where are they all? It would seem that this industry is now suffering with a lack of labour just when it so desperately needs more people.

Where has everyone gone?

We can, to some extent, attribute this employee shortage to the B-word. Pre-Brexit, probably about one in five warehouse workers were from the EU so there are obvious implications affecting 2021 onwards. But this is by no means the only reason.

Image is everything

The industry also has an image problem with new potential recruits considering the sector ‘boring’. Maybe the work can be unstimulating… also warehouse environments can be noisy and cold. Plus, the jobs on offer are often challenging and shift-based.

E-commerce is driving new developments in Warehouse Automation

So, what is the answer? One is definitely needed as consumers are not turning their backs on online shopping anytime soon.

New technology and warehouse automation systems are changing the playing field. They are physically replacing manual jobs for a start, but also elevating what would once be lower-level manual jobs into positions that require being able to run, manage and question these new systems to make sure that they are performing optimally. This certainly sounds like it could pique more candidates’ interest.

New entrants are shaking things up

Smaller businesses can now compete in the warehousing space too due to technological advances replacing the need for labour. And we’re seeing a host of new players arriving which is adding welcome diversity to the industry.

Warehousing is the future

Far from being an undesirable career option, warehousing has the potential to house the perfect blend of technological and human talent in forthcoming years. Technology, conveyors and automation are key to this transition, so why not see how they could help your warehouse. All you need to do is have a quick no obligation chat with PJP Conveyors. Simple!

Photo by Tiger Lily

Warehouse Automation is very much our thing

We are always automating a warehouse somewhere or other. Here are some projects that give you a real flavour of what we can achieve.

Sorting a common warehouse bottleneck

We streamlined the end of line/despatch process for a pet food supplier to get rid of bottlenecks. Prior to our system, the customer could complete an order every 3-4 minutes. Our system reduced this to one every 10 seconds.

System upgrade for international security product supplier

To support new picking, scanning and despatch processes we had to introduce modern transfer units, new ZLP roller conveyors, new scanner outputs, upgraded PLC software and adapted the human-machine interface (HMI).