The online shopping boom has created jobs in warehouses, with suppliers and every warehouse equipment producer that supplies the essential equipment required to process orders.
The closure of the Yorkshire coalfields following the 1984 miners’ strike created large scale unemployment in former coal towns. Four decades later, there are as many employed in South Yorkshire warehouses as used to work in the coal mines.
Yorkshire has been called the UK’s capital of warehousing, employing 180,000 workers. The area is often chosen by warehouse owners because of its central location and proximity to motorways. Warehouses occupy many former colliery sites. Brands like ASOS and M&S have warehouses in the county, while delivery service Evri recently opened a base in Barnsley that provides delivery services.
Though the sector has been accused of bad working practices, workers interviewed by BBC News expressed positive feelings about their jobs. For example, Lauren Smith said that she started as a warehouse operative and then worked in administration and management. She said:
“I’ve never been to a place which has given me as much as this place has. It’s a job that had the most potential for me.”
There is a fear that warehouse robots and automation will lead to many job losses, but Gareth Shawcroft head of the Evri hub at Barnsley says that humans are better in many areas than automated technology.
Furthermore, Professor Steve Fothergill of Sheffield Hallam University says that automation will replace some jobs, but expects to see a rise in warehouse jobs in Yorkshire for some time yet.
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