MILLENNIALS AND
AUTOMATION
Attracting
Millennials
with warehouse automation
T
he United States Census Bureau defines millennials as
people born between 1982 and 2000. They grew up and
continue to live in a world where technology permeates
all aspects of life. Personal computers, gaming consoles, GPS, the
internet and smart phones are just a few of the everyday, com-
monplace technologies millennials have known since childhood.
Their lifelong exposure to technology has cemented millennials’
relationship with it. It’s forged their views on how it can benefit
them at home and in the workplace, which has had a powerful
effect on how they see themselves as an employee and what they
want from an employer. cent unemployment rate – the lowest it’s been since man stepped
foot on the moon and twice as many millennials are applying
for jobs than their non-millennial counterparts according to a
FitSmallBusiness.com survey.
It’s especially true for the manufacturing and materials handling
industries. Currently, they’re in the midst of a staffing crisis. The
Bureau of Labor Statistics’ recent report states “390,000 manu-
facturing jobs currently sit unfilled with an estimated 2.5 mil-
lion manufacturing jobs going unfilled in the next ten years.” It
shouldn’t be a surprise that 71.3 percent of those recently sur-
veyed by the National Association of Manufacturers responded
that their biggest industry challenge is attracting and retaining a
quality workforce, up from 64 percent in 2017. Millennials think of warehouses as run-down, poorly lit cob-
web-filled inhospitable and sometimes dangerous places where
employees labor away at the same meaningless task over and
over during long shifts. Carolyn Lee, Executive Director of the
Manufacturing Institute, NAM’s social impact arm, backs this
up stating, “Part of the reason for this challenge is that people
don’t understand what modern manufacturing is all about — so
perception is a big issue. People think of manufacturing as old and
antiquated when it’s not…” And though the warehouse stereotype
is far from accurate, it is powerfully dissuasive to the millennial
jobseeker. The best way to change this stereotype and combat the
staffing crisis is through warehouse automation.
Why aren’t millennials attracted to work in the manufacturing
and material handling industries? They’re strapped with student
loan debt and trying to find work in a marketplace with a 3.9 per-
14
The Satellite Review
Any recruiter in manufacturing and material handling would
be right to assume the millennial-jobseeker would welcome the
opportunity to work in a warehouse. Unfortunately, the statistics
show that recruiters are wrong. Millennials aren’t flooding these
industries with job applications because of a stereotype that has
been passed down to them from previous generations.
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