• New analysis suggests the UK warehousing sector employs around 760,000 people, significantly higher than official estimates, with many roles previously hidden within sectors such as retail and manufacturing.
• Warehousing has grown far faster than the wider economy, driven by e-commerce, retail, manufacturing and global supply chains. Airport cargo warehouses are also playing an increasingly important role, handling specialist goods including pharmaceuticals, perishables and high-value components.
• Despite its scale and growing sophistication, the sector faces challenges around skills, recruitment and public perception, with demand increasing for supervisors, managers and digitally skilled professionals to support modern logistics operations.

Move over bankers, lawyers and social media influencers showing us how to make a cup of tea. There’s another workforce quietly keeping Britain running, and it turns out it’s a lot bigger than anyone thought.

Fresh analysis has revealed that the UK warehousing sector has been hiding in plain sight, with around 760,000 people working across the industry. That’s more than 70% higher than official figures have suggested, making warehousing one of the country’s biggest employment success stories. Included in this revealed total are those who toil away in airfreight warehouses and transit sheds up and down the United Kingdom.

For years, the UK’s Office for National Statistics has reported that around 440,000 people were employed in warehousing. Perfectly respectable numbers, you might think. However, according to new research conducted for the UK Warehousing Association by logistics consultant Kirsten Tisdale of Aricia, those figures are missing a sizeable chunk of the workforce.

The reason is simple. Many warehousing and storage roles sit inside other sectors such as retail and manufacturing, meaning they often escape the official warehouse headcount. In other words, the nation’s warehouse workers have been playing a giant game of hide-and-seek with the statisticians.

True scale

The findings shine a light on the true scale of an industry that most people only notice when a parcel arrives on time, which, naturally, they now expect as a basic human right.

Even using the lower ONS figure, employment in warehousing has grown by 40% since 2011. To put that into perspective, overall job growth across the wider economy has risen by just 14% during the same period. Not bad for an industry that many people still imagine consists of someone in a fluorescent jacket driving a forklift around a chilly shed.

Of course, the rise of online shopping has helped fuel growth. Every late-night purchase, panic birthday present and impulse buy has to pass through a warehouse before appearing on a doorstep. However, warehousing’s success story stretches far beyond internet retail.

Research by Savills and the UKWA in 2024 found that third-party logistics providers and traditional high street retailers actually occupied more warehouse space than online retailers. So while e-commerce may grab the headlines, plenty of the nation’s warehouse activity is still supporting shops, manufacturers and supply chains up and down the country.

The story is equally impressive at the nation’s airports, where airfreight warehousing plays a vital role in keeping goods moving around the globe. Behind the scenes at major airport cargo hubs, teams work around the clock handling everything from pharmaceuticals and perishables to high-value electronics and urgent industrial components. While passengers are worrying about whether their suitcase has made the flight, warehouse professionals are busy ensuring international trade keeps flowing smoothly.

Modern airport freight warehouses are a far cry from the dusty depots some people still picture. They are increasingly sophisticated operations packed with technology, automation and highly skilled staff. From customs procedures and inventory management to specialist temperature-controlled storage, these facilities are every bit as important to the UK economy as the aircraft parked outside.

Yet despite the growth and increasing sophistication of the sector, the UK Warehousing Association believes public perception has not quite caught up with reality.

Clare Bottle, CEO of the UKWA, said: “These figures give us the clearest picture yet of the real contribution of the warehousing sector to the UK. Perceptions have not caught up, however, and too many people still think of jobs in our industry as dirty, cold, manual labour. The truth is that warehousing is brilliant at both creating entry-level opportunities and giving people a career ladder to climb.

“Our members face just as big a gap in finding team leaders and supervisors as they do in recruiting warehouse operatives. A major part of the issue is that the apprenticeship system has not been working for logistics, with companies only being able to use about a third of the money they have paid into the Apprenticeship Levy.”

The comments highlight a challenge familiar to many logistics businesses. While warehouse operators continue to recruit staff for operational roles, there is also strong demand for supervisors, managers and future leaders who can oversee increasingly complex facilities.

Logistics knowledge, regulatory understanding

That challenge is particularly relevant in specialist sectors such as airport cargo operations, where employees often require a blend of logistics knowledge, regulatory understanding and technology skills. The days of warehouse careers being viewed as a dead end are rapidly disappearing, replaced by opportunities to progress into management, planning, transport coordination and supply chain leadership.

The latest figures suggest it may be time for politicians, educators and the public to give warehousing a little more credit. After all, whether it’s a parcel heading to a front door, products arriving at a supermarket, components reaching a factory or vital goods moving through air freight warehouses at the UK’s airports, someone in a warehouse has almost certainly played a part.

For an industry that spends most of its time behind the scenes, warehousing is suddenly finding itself centre stage. And judging by the numbers, it has earned its moment in the spotlight.

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