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The United States, like most developed nations, has more deaths than births and therefore a shrinking population. However, in America the antidote to a declining workforce has been immigration. Sadly, the process has not been handled well, even though history has proven that immigration has stimulated growth in our economy. The list of immigrants who have made their mark in corporate leadership is impressive. Yet there are demagogues who would have us believe that immigration is a threat to our culture.
Creative warehouse executives recognize that this business represents an opportunity to develop and engage an immigrant workforce. Several years ago, we worked with the distribution center for a well-known fashion brand in New Jersey. Our training was delivered in Spanish because the entire workforce was immigrants from the Caribbean and Central America, and the prevailing language in the warehouse is Spanish. The workers are transported by bus from Newark , since recent immigrants may not have access to a car, and public transportation is limited. Management recognizes that this is a workforce in transition. The more successful workers will learn English, save money, and graduate to a different job. Meanwhile, the warehouse operator has a loyal and dedicated workforce.
On a larger scale, the warehousing industry has an opportunity to be a training ground for immigrants. Immigration was a prime force in the industrial development of America in most of the 19th and 20th centuries. There is no reason why it cannot play the same role in the 21st.
Robotics will also be helpful.
It is no accident that Japan is a leader in the application of robotics. No place on Earth has a greater problem with decline of population and the resulting reduction of workforce. Therefore the Japanese are creating software to manage robots in nursing homes as well as factories and warehouses.
One of the first notable cases of warehouse automation in the United States took place with a grocery product manufacturer’s distribution center in a prosperous suburb on Chicago’s North Shore. The distribution center was temperature controlled to handle a frozen product, and the unpleasant work conditions made it difficult to attract labor. Automation provided the antidote for an acute shortage of workers.
Some say that the jobs created by new technology may exceed the jobs that the technology replaces. If this is true, controlling the warehouse workforce will only aggravate the shortages that appear elsewhere.
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