Warehouse Work: Path to the Middle Class or Road to Economic Insecurity?

President Obama’s recent visit to an Amazon.com warehouse in Chattanooga, Tennessee was supposed to provide a glimpse into what good middle class jobs look like in today’s economy.

According to the President, warehouse jobs offer American families economic stability at a time when employment can be difficult to find. Major retailers like Amazon and Walmart regularly gain public and political support by claiming that their supply chain workers earn middle class wages.

According to Amazon, their typical warehouse employee makes more than 30 percent above what an average retail worker earns.(1) Few would oppose jobs that offer economic stability for working men and women, but the idea that warehouse jobs are categorically middle class often obscures the low wage cycle that many blue-collar workers endure in the logistics industry.

What Is The Logistics Industry?
Regional planners measure the logistics industry by aggregating data for the following eight economic sectors:

• Warehousing and Storage
• Wholesale Trade
• Couriers
• Support Activities for Transportation
• Truck Transportation
• Air Transportation
• Rail Transportation

Paying the Price for Cheap Goods
A series of research briefs that highlight key economic and policy issues that affect warehousing and logistics in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

(1) Fox, Emily Jane. 2013. “How Amazon’s New Jobs Really Stack Up.” CNN Money, July 30.