Lucas Insights: Voice of the Warehouse Worker

Lucas Systems did a series of in-depth interviews with dozens of workers representing different generations, levels of experience and attitudes to capture their feelings about their work and lives both now and in the future. What they told us helped to uncover four elements warehouse and DC operators need to make part of their strategic plans to capture and retain the warehouse workforce of the future.

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While much has been said and shared on the topic of the acute labor challenges in the warehousing and distribution segment, there has been little voice that has come directly from the perspective of the on-floor warehouse worker.

Lucas Systems recently commissioned a study of 500 on-floor warehouse workers across the U.S. The study uncovers how workers feel about stress, the need for technology, and working with robots. Some of the insights might surprise you.

Download our Insights – Voice of the Warehouse Worker Whitepaper

Lucas Systems commissioned a study of 500 on-floor warehouse workers across the US. The study uncovers how workers feel about stress, the need for technology, and working with robots. Key findings included:

74% of workers are willing to trade pay for better tech to do their jobs

74% of workers

Nearly 3 in 4 (74%) warehouse workers are at least somewhat likely to take a pay cut to work at another company with more technology tools to help them do their job, including more than half (52%) who are extremely or very likely. This is driven by younger workers, with 81% of workers in the Gen Z group being at least somewhat likely to trade pay for tech. This is certainly a signal to DC operators and leaders that workers are after quality measures in addition to quantity measures, like pay, when it comes to their jobs.

Workers want to stay at their jobs but feel improvements are a necessity to make their jobs easier and less stressful

While the news is dominated by talk of the great resignation, on-floor workers do not want to bounce around. The Voice of the Warehouse Worker survey found that warehouse workers anticipate staying at their current place of employment for at least three years (74%), with 35% anticipating a tenure longer than five years.

90% believe tech is a critical driver in employee attraction and retention

An overwhelming majority (90%) of our study respondents believe investment in new technology will help in attracting and retaining on-floor workers. These results indicate that investment in tech to help workers do their jobs better and easier may give companies a crucial advantage during this era of labor shortage and help them prepare for the future as younger workers and new prospects enter the workforce.

90%

Most Valuable Tech Benefits

3 out of 4 workers say robots are friends not foes in the warehouse.

Three of 4 warehouse workers in our survey said that they trust robots as a partner to help them do their jobs better. Workers value robots as colleagues, mainly because of their ability to help reduce physical stress, and achieve better performance in picking and accuracy.

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This guide takes you through three steps that have helped hundreds of distribution centers worldwide increase productivity and throughput in their picking processes. 

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Customer Story: Increasing Accuracy and Productivity 

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Build a more productive and engaged workforce with our warehouse and distribution optimization software.