BY MARK B. SOLOMON, EXECUTIVE EDITOR–NEWS
THE DC VELOCITY Q&A thoughtleaders
IT’S UNFORTUNATE THE REST OF THE U.S. ECONomy isn’t firing on all cylinders the way the industrial
property sector is. Demand is strong, space can’t come
online fast enough, and, after more than a decade of
lean times, DC workers are finally seeing more money
for their efforts.
These also make for good times for Brian Devine.
A 20-year staffing veteran and senior vice president of
Atlanta-based EmployBridge, Devine in 1999 launched
ProLogistix, a division of EmployBridge dedicated to
specialized warehouse and distribution center staffing.
ProLogistix has since become a leading provider of logistics talent in the U.S.
Devine recently spoke with Mark B. Solomon, exec-
utive editor–news, to discuss the outlook for labor and
how managers will need to balance the realities of higher
pay and margin pressure.
QHow are the supply-demand scales balancing for peak season?
A Based on what we’ve seen over the past three years, we expect the demand for hourly labor to increase
by about 28 percent over the headcount needs of the
third quarter. This large increase will be on top of the
already-tight labor market we are now experiencing, so
recruiting for this peak season will be even more challenging than it was in the last few years. The good news
for associates is that over half of the positions created
during the peak season of 2015 turned into full-time
positions. That compares with just 10 percent of the
Forget the robots. The outlook for manual labor in the DC
hasn’t been this bright in years, says staffing expert Brian Devine.
INTERVIEW WITH BRIAN DEVINE
Power to the people!
