Warehouse Wages Are Stalled in the Inland Empire

Amber Schiada

The ecommerce boom has not only fueled industrial real estate activity; it has also fueled substantial growth of warehouse jobs. The Inland Empire has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the increase in warehouse jobs this cycle; however, wages have not followed the upward trajectory. According to new research from JLL, wage growth for warehouse jobs in the Inland Empire have stalled. In Riverside County, wages have grown 1.5% since 2007, while wages in in San Bernardino County have grown 16%. Wage growth for warehouse jobs in the Inland Empire trended behind overall wage growth this cycle.

“There was a lot of slack in the Inland Empire’s labor market following the housing crash and the Great Recession earlier in the decade,” Amber Schiada, director of research at JLL, tells GlobeSt.com. “More available labor typically means stagnant wages since employers have the upper hand when they have their pick of the labor pool. The Inland Empire recorded several years of job losses in construction, manufacturing, wholesale trade, and transportation—more so than the rest of the region on a relative basis.”