When did you become a recruiter?
Somewhere between checking inventory levels and coordinating dispatch schedules, most warehouse managers have taken on a second full-time job they never signed up for: recruitment specialist.
You’re writing job adverts. Sorting through applications. Conducting interviews. Chasing references. Managing no-shows. And all of this is happening whilst you’re trying to actually run warehouse operations during your busiest period.
Every hour you spend recruiting is an hour you’re not spending on the work that actually moves the business forward.
Think about what you could accomplish if you weren’t constantly firefighting staffing gaps. You could optimise your dispatch processes. Train your permanent team on that new system. Actually take that planning meeting seriously instead of half-listening whilst mentally calculating whether you have enough people for tomorrow’s shift.
The irony is that the busier you get, the more time you waste on recruitment – precisely when you can least afford it. You need three people by Monday, so you spend your entire weekend reviewing CVs and making calls. Meanwhile, your operations are running on a skeleton crew because you’re not on the floor managing them.
Most warehouse managers don’t realise how much this hidden workload is costing them until they stop doing it. When someone else handles the sourcing, screening, and scheduling, you suddenly have 10-15 hours back each week. Hours you can spend improving efficiency, reducing errors, or simply making sure your permanent staff aren’t shouldering impossible workloads.
The difference between a warehouse that struggles through peak season and one that thrives often comes down to one thing: whether the manager is spending their time managing operations or managing recruitment. You can’t do both well simultaneously.
Your job is to run an efficient warehouse. Someone else’s job should be keeping it staffed.