Researchers question the Inland Empire's booming job market
Visit Ontario and you'll find plenty of warehouses.
According to business columnist Jonathan Lansner, industrial parks have been big drivers in the Inland Empire's — which consists of Riverside and San Bernardino Counties — booming job market.
"They've added about 100,000 jobs since 2019," said Lansner, who writes for the Southern California News Group. "About two-thirds of them have been in warehouses and transportation."
According to Lansner's analysis, transportation and warehouse staffing was up 42% since December 2019, making the Inland Empire No. 1 in the nation.
The region had more than 231,000 logistics jobs in December, almost 48% of the Inland Empire's overall total of jobs. Compared to the entire country, the Inland Empire ranks third for total logistics jobs.
"I saw the report and found it very misleading in my opinion," said Pitzer College Researcher Amparo Muñoz. "I found it very misleading in my opinion."
Muñoz co-authored the "Region in Crisis Report," which found that Ontario contains more than 600 warehouses. Throughout the entire region, there are a billion square feet of warehouses.
"Let's talk about those quality of jobs," said Muñoz. "They don't have any health care benefits. They're not unionized labor so they're not paying prevailing wage."
A spokesperson for Amazon, which has a major presence in the Inland Empire, said the company employs more than 40,000 and it offers $17 an hour as its initial pay rate. Fulltime employees can earn up to $19.25 an hour with health, vision and dental benefits along with 401k and up to 20 weeks paid parental leave.
"They're repeatedly lifting boxes in ways humans weren't designed," said Muñoz. "We're seeing arm injuries, back injuries, leg injuries.
Lansner said the job growth in the Inland Empire is among the top 10 in the country and the big lure is less expensive real estate for both bosses and workers.
"They're not bad work and for a lot of people having a decent paying job is better than having a poor paying job or no job at all," he said.
