Opportunity or Exploitation? Warehouse Work in the Inland Empire of California
Introduction
The Inland Empire (IE) in Southern California is known for being a major warehouse center that serves the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex and the global retail economy. Comprising Riverside and San Bernardino counties, the Inland Empire is home to over 3,000 distribution centers of at least 100,000 square feet (The Press-Enterprise, 2021). The logistics industry in the IE processed over 40% of American consumer goods in 2020 and employs over two hundred thousand workers (Horseman, 2021).
In recent years, the IE has also experienced rapid population growth with the population increasing by over 76% since 1990 (Gootman et. al., 2019). Today, the IE is home to “one of the youngest and most racially and ethnically diverse” populations in a large metropolitan region in the United States, with over half of the population under 35 years old and over 68% of the population identifying as people of color (Gootman et. al., 2019). However, along with rapid population and warehouse growth, the IE has been facing an increasing number of issues related to low-wage workers and economic diversity, especially as a disproportionate number of Black and Latinx workers are employed in low-wage warehouse positions (Reese and Scott, 2019). Therefore, we will examine how the Inland Empire is responding to its rapidly growing population and logistics industry and how it can better support the many people who live and work in the region.
Low-Income Workers in the Inland Empire
Despite the rapid growth and demand from the logistics industry in the Inland Empire, warehouse workers in the region continue to experience low wages and poor living conditions. According to the nonprofit organization Economic Roundtable, over 86% of workers employed in the logistics industry in the IE earn less than the basic living wage, which is defined as the wage required for an individual to support their family (Burns and Flaming, 2019). Furthermore, according to the University of California, Riverside (2018), less than half of the jobs in the IE pay a livable wage.
Low-wage positions in the logistic industry are paired with harsh working conditions. As demand for consumer goods increases, employers place increased pressure on their employees to work faster. In particular, Amazon, which is the second-largest employer in Riverside County, is known for its work quotas or rates, pushing warehouse and delivery drivers to meet a minimum number of tasks per hour (Horseman, 2021; Human Impact Organization, 2021). This continuous pressure to meet high demand leads to high rates of injury for warehouse workers (Horseman, 2021). As a result, warehouse employees in the Inland Empire commonly experience heat exhaustion, especially during summer around high-heat cities like Beaumont and Banning, as well as neck, shoulder, back, and knee injuries from the repetitive nature of their jobs (Human Impact Organization, 2021). Furthermore, low-income workers are reluctant to report workplace injuries due to fear of losing their jobs and are not provided health insurance to cover the costs of high rates of injuries. In 2017, only 42% of adults under 65 had employer-sponsored health insurance in the Inland Empire, and those without employer-sponsored insurance struggle to afford their own health insurance, especially when other costs like housing and food costs take priority (Bharath and Hayden, 2019).
Low-income warehouse workers also tend to have less independence and flexibility, making it difficult for them to transition to better-paying jobs. Warehouse workers often cannot afford to live on their own, so they live with family members or other warehouse workers (Bharath, 2021). They often rely on government aid, including food stamps and Medi-Cal, for financial assistance (Bharath, 2021). Since they are already relying on family, friends, and government aid, warehouse workers are typically unable to quit their jobs or work fewer hours to search for better opportunities (Reese and Scott, 2019). Additionally, few warehouse workers believe that their job is providing valuable work experience for them to utilize in a transition to a future career, and warehouse employees who are pursuing higher education view their job as “interfering with their ability to perform well in school” (Reese and Scott, 2019). Thus, warehouse workers find it difficult to acquire the skills necessary to find better employment since they are unable to sacrifice work hours to balance school and their jobs.
The Black and Brown communities are disproportionately impacted by labor conditions in the Inland Empire. Latino immigrants and Black people make up the majority of lower-tier warehouse workers in the Inland Empire whereas white people occupy a majority of executive roles (Bharath, 2021). Logistic companies sustain these trends through subjective hiring practices, such as hiring people who speak the same language or look like them (Bharath, 2021). Communities of color are also pitted against one another in warehouse positions, with many immigrant workers who are more willing to tolerate lower wages and harsher working conditions being contrasted with Black workers who are labeled as less hardworking (Bharath, 2021). Moreover, workers of color tend to have lower job security, fewer savings, and even less flexibility to pursue higher education or move to areas with better opportunities, resulting in them staying longer in low-wage positions compared to their white counterparts (Bharath, 2021).
What can the Inland Empire do?
To better support low-income workers, the Inland Empire should improve legislation that protects workers and regulates their working conditions, better allow workers to voice their concerns and demands, and invest in more opportunities for low-income employees to work towards a more sustainable future. Beginning at the business level, companies should reassess their hiring policies and address any policies that may “inhibit their ability to attract, retain, or promote particular groups of people” (Gootman et. al., 2019). By re-evaluating their hiring practices, companies can work towards having a more racially diverse workplace at all levels from management to warehouse employees. Furthermore, employers can allow or encourage their workers to unionize. Through unions, companies can listen to their employee’s concerns and demands and negotiate adjustments to company policy to improve work conditions (Bharath, 2021).
However, some companies may not take the initiative to address low-wage workers’ concerns as their current business model is profitable for them. Therefore, the government should establish stronger workplace protection laws to require companies to provide safer working conditions. For instance, in September 2021, the California Assembly and Senate passed Assembly Bill 701, prohibiting companies from firing warehouse workers who failed to meet “a quota that interfered with their ability to use the bathroom or take rest breaks” (Bharath, 2021). Laws like AB701 push logistics companies to slow their demanding and fast work rates to more sustainable and safer speeds for their employees. Furthermore, the government can enact and enforce stronger anti-discrimination laws to ensure workers of color, women, and older adults are treated equally in the hiring process, consideration for promotion, and the wages they receive compared to their counterparts (Gootman et. al., 2019).
The Inland Empire can also recognize that economic inequality issues begin long before the job application. Children who grow up in economically vulnerable environments are more likely to experience the same economic struggles as their parents (Gootman et. al., 2019). In 2016, over half of the children in the Inland Empire lived in a struggling household, indicating that the IE will likely face an issue with having a persistently high number of economically insecure households unless it takes action now (Gootman et. al., 2019). Thus, the Inland Empire should fund more and better educational opportunities to assist low-income families with obtaining better-paying positions. For instance, summer youth development programs can prepare young people, especially young people of color, for entering the workforce by providing networking opportunities and can lead to higher earnings and higher graduation rates for participants (Spievack, 2019). Additionally, schools and educational programs in the Inland Empire should focus on developing inductive reasoning and complex problem-solving skills as they are considered skills that are strongly associated with career advancement and are resilient to automation (Gootman et. al., 2019). Lastly, Riverside and San Bernardino counties should continue to expand their career pathway programs, which provide steps for workers to obtain higher credentials in a specific career field, such as healthcare (University of California, Riverside, 2018).
Conclusion
In the Inland Empire, low-income workers rely on their warehouse jobs to support themselves and their families. Despite their contribution to making the Inland Empire a major warehouse center, work conditions for low-income warehouse employees remain poor. Low-income warehouse employees work in fast and unsafe environments for little pay and no health insurance and are less likely to have the flexibility to leave their positions in search of better-paying jobs. However, conditions for low-income workers can improve. We can promote stricter regulations of logistics companies by the government and push for companies to treat their workers better. We can provide better educational opportunities for low-income families to acquire the skills necessary to obtain higher-paying positions. And most importantly, we should listen to the workers who process and deliver millions of consumer goods for us every year and support them when they voice their concerns and demand better working conditions.
Written by Joleen Chiu, UCLA Undergraduate Economics Student
References
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Bharath, D, & Hayden, N. (2019). Inland Empire’s booming warehouse industry brings jobs – not health care coverage.
Burns, P, & Flaming, D. (2019). Too Big to Govern. Economic Roundtable.
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Spievack, N. (2019). For People of Color, Employment Disparities Start Early. Urban Institute.
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