The COVID-19 pandemic impacted industries across the globe, with e-commerce being no exception. In fact, e-commerce sales have soared, increasing by over 33% in 2020 and projecting to grow another 13% in 2021.1 With this steady growth in sales, it is clear the pandemic has signaled a paradigm shift in the way consumers shop.
However, while more consumers are buying goods effortlessly through their screens, a shift is also occurring in warehouse and distribution industries across the nation to fulfill the influx in orders. In response to keeping up with this newfound digital economy, employment rates in manufacturing skyrocketed during the pandemic, as 46,000 more employees joined this industry between February of 2020 to September of 2020 despite decreasing employment rates in a majority of other sectors.2 This rise in manufacturing is not expected to slow down anytime soon, as employment in hand laborers and material movers are projected to grow 7% between 2020 and 2030.3