Online Shopping impact on Employment
Online shopping increased by 14% in 2018 generating an estimated $13.6 Billion in revenue according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Logistics staffing manager at International 3PL said that she is seeing a significant growth in employment for logistics and e-commerce workers in areas such as New Jersey, New York, Memphis and Miami.
E-commerce fulfillment demand drove employment in distribution centers.
Job Growth in the last Mile Delivery and Messenger Companies has increased as more and more packages are being delivered the same or next day.
In contrast to job growth in the logistics industry, employment across the transportation industry has slowed down.
Online Shopping and Order Fulfillment E- Commerce
Online Shopping and Order Fulfillment E- Commerce growth pushed 3PL Companies to open more Fulfillment Centers near areas that are heavily populated. Such growth can be seen in an area like Miami.
The Demand for more logistics workers is met with a major obstacle, finding the right people. Order Fulfillment workers, whether office or warehouse workers need to possess skill sets if the warehouse operator is offering highly sophisticated services such as Omni Channel and Multi-Channel fulfillment. Order fulfillment is fast paced environment and required a specific kind of worker.
Skill set needed for fulfillment Employees
- Highly organized which means more effectiveness and less time to fill orders.
- Able to Multitask. Fulfillment work brings along a lot of interruptions.
- Can Work Under pressure. making sure orders leave when they are supposed to puts a lot of pressure on employees since tomorrow is not a good answer for a customer expecting the shipment today.
- For those employees working inside the office, a college degree in logistics or a related field is a must. Fulfillment is about the understanding the process.
- Good Communication skills. A worker that can deliver a clear instruction or message in one short instance. Time is not on your side when it comes to fulfillment. You are running against time.
- Good Command of the English Language. The way you write could make it or break it.
- Excellent computer skills. Poor skills will result in delays and mistakes that could be costly.
For a 3Pl company to succeed in offering Fulfillment services, it must hire skilled workers with experience. This is a highly skilled industry and all workers should possess above skill set. Without such workers, a fulfillment company will be just another warehousing company struggling to survive in a competitive market. Unfortunately, such skilled workers are in short supply.
Freight Forwarders in Miami have recently started offering fulfillment services looking for extra revenue however; they are using their existing staff to perform such tasks which has proven to be counterproductive.
According to the Census Bureau, the average pay of a warehouse fulfillment worker is $9 per hour, the average pay of a skilled fulfillment clerk is $13
Resources:
Third Party Logistics Companies
