Clients in the News: Companies today are dealing with significant shortages in warehouse labor, as older members of the workforce begin to retire and the younger generation seems less enthusiastic about careers in distribution. These year-round shortages are felt especially hard during a business’ peak period—when demand reaches seasonal highs and orders pour into the warehouse.
During peak seasons, facilities reliant on manual operations can often struggle to keep up with the heightened order volume. Available staff have to scramble up and down aisles and handpick products, which can pose major health and safety risks, with bending and lifting heavy loads. Many organizations will hire seasonal staff to help, but this tends to create new challenges, like added costs and providing adequate training in a short time period. All of this comes on top of year-round challenges in expanding inventories and consumer demand for faster, accurate deliveries.