Distribution

Greater Jackson Alliance Workforce Assessment
Warehouse and Distribution Sector

Younger Associates has evaluated the availability of skilled workers for the Warehouse and Distribution sector. This evaluation is based upon a comprehensive workforce analysis completed in September 2008 in collaboration with Wadley-Donovan GrowthTech.

To gain a current and accurate measurement of labor availability by skill set, Younger Associates conducted a labor supply survey that yielded data with a +4% margin of error. The assessment found a skilled workforce and a pool of available and underemployed workers with skills directly related to the warehouse and distribution industry. For this report, labor availability has been updated to reflect March 2009 levels.

The Greater Jackson Alliance Area Labor Market has over 295,000 employed workers and a labor reserve of more than 210,000 potential and underemployed workers. Over the past two decades a significant number of warehouse and distribution companies have located in the Greater Jackson Area; consequently a sizeable portion of the available workers are prepared for jobs related to logistics, materials handling and transportation.

A warehouse and distribution operation locating in the Greater Jackson Alliance Area could draw from a pool of over 24,200 experienced workers within the labor reserve who have directly-related skills. These workers have prior work experience in warehousing, transportation and materials moving, mechanical repair, computer support, and unskilled manufacturing production.

In addition, the labor reserve offers workers with information systems, communications technology and customer support expertise. Even the most technically advanced logistics employer can fully staff their entire operation from the Greater Jackson Alliance Area labor pool.

Depending upon the exact location and commute zone within the area, a warehouse/distribution employer could expect to find 1,450 to 1,900 fully screened and qualified applicants at start-up. Additional screened and qualified candidates would be available for ongoing expansion based upon the numbers of workers entering the workforce or completing qualifying training each year.

Each year colleges and universities serving the Greater Jackson Alliance Area produce more than 620 graduates of transportation/logistics related programs. These programs are: transportation and materials moving, mechanical/repair technology, and computer support.

There are over 2,300 people not currently employed who have expressed interest in training for transportation and heavy truck operation.

Table 1 below shows the number of people currently employed in the occupations listed by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics as directly related to the warehouse and distribution sector. Also shown is the number of workers within each skill set area that are not currently employed but are interested in finding employment. This group is comprised of the recently unemployed and groups such as people returning to the workforce after caring for family, entering the workforce after completing school or training, early retirees seeking to reenter the workforce, and separating military. The underemployed workers are currently working below their skill level, or only part time, and have demonstrated skills in the skill sets shown.

Table 1: Greater Jackson Workforce Area Skill Sets: Warehouse and Distribution
Source: Younger Associates Labor Supply Survey 2008, Updated March 2009
Skill Set	Currently Employed	Not Employed, But Interested	Underemployed	Total Availability
Warehousing	7,800	3,725	3,675	7,400
Manufacturing - Production	5,750	4,440	595	5,035
Transportation & Material Movers	13,500	1,290	1,790	3,080
Maintenance & Service Technicians	3,150	3,465	2,085	5,550
Computer IT/Support Technical	1,150	2,020	1,200	3,220
Total	31,350	14,940	9,345	24,285

Labor Quality and Cost

Employers were asked to rate their workforce, on a scale of one to five with five being highest on the following labor quality measures.

Work Ethic	3.0
Productivity	3.1
Willingness to work overtime	3.4
Punctuality	3.0
Overall employer/employee relations	3.4

Annual average wages for warehouse and distribution occupations in the Greater Jackson area range from 15% to 29% below the U.S. average wages. An exception is wages paid for long distance trucking, where the regional average wages are equal to the national average.

Workforce Education and Training

Table 2 below shows the total number of graduates and the number of graduates with degrees directly related to logistics and transportation from the colleges and universities serving the Greater Jackson Area.

Table 2: Greater Jackson Alliance Area Annual Logistics/Transportation Graduates
Source: US Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS)
Name	Address	Distance from Jackson, MS	Type	Total Enrollment	Undergraduate Degree/ Certificate	Logistics/Trans Graduates*
Alcorn State University	Alcorn	67.9 miles	4-yr, Public	3,688	559	19
Antonelli College	Jackson	0.4 miles	2-yr, Private for-profit	240	82	5
Belhaven College	Jackson	1.1 miles	4-yr, Private not-for-profit	2,485	470	6
Copiah-Lincoln Community College	Wesson	42.9 miles	2-yr, Public	2,382	719	77
East Central Community College	Decatur	63.6 miles	2-yr, Public	2,281	485	49
Hinds Community College	Raymond	15.2 miles	2-yr, Public	9,941	1,476	78
Holmes Community College	Goodman	49.3 miles	2-yr, Public	5,107	641	35
Jackson State University ^R	Jackson	0.5 miles	4-yr, Public	8,698	834	41
Jones Junior College	Ellisville	75.0 miles	2-yr, Public	4,683	904	58
Meridian Community College	Meridian	79.2 miles	2-yr, Public	3,543	667	47
Millsaps College	Jackson	2.4 miles	4-yr, Private not-for-profit	1,151	199	3
Mississippi College	Clinton	8.6 miles	4-yr, Private not-for-profit	4,467	542	14
Mississippi Delta Community College	Moorehead	82.0 miles	2-yr, Public	3,006	432	47
Mississippi Valley State University	Itta Bena	83.4 miles	4-yr, Public	3,009	511	8
Southwest Mississippi Community College	Simmit	71.1 miles	2-yr, Public	1,843	407	21
Tougaloo College	Tougaloo	7.0 miles	4-yr, Private not-for-profit	856	131	1
University of Southern Mississippi^R	Hattiesburg	83.4 miles	4-yr, Public	14,592	2,277	85
Virginia College-Jackson	Jackson	5.1 miles	2-yr, Private for-profit	905	286	27
Total Within Market Area				72,877	11,622
Mississippi State University ^R	Starkville	114.4 miles	4-yr, Public	17,039	2,588	42
University of Mississippi Main Campus ^R	Oxford	148.2 miles	4-yr, Public	15,129	2,376	12
Total				105,045	16,586	621
*Programs of study include: Computer/Information Systems, Engineering & Engineering Technologies, Mechanical & Repair Technologies, Precision Production and Transportation & Materials Moving.
R - Carnegie Classified Research University