12/10/2019 Prologis is Building Tomorrow’s Workforce | Nareit Home ► Industry News ► REIT Magazine ► November/December 2019 ► Prologis is Building Tomorrow’s Workforce Prologis is addressing its tenants’ urgent need for labor by developing workforce training initiatives. 11/7/2019 | By Sarah Borchersen-Keto REIT magazine: November/December 2019 Students at Florida’s Miami Springs Senior High School might appear to be playing video games, but the forklift truck they are maneuvering onscreen during class is giving them valuable skills that are urgently needed to support today’s growing logistics industry. Elsewhere in the classroom, built by logistics REIT Prologis, Inc. (NYSE: PLD) in collaboration with Miami-Dade County Public Schools, students prepare packages for shipping and complete logistics modules online. Lead teacher Nicolas Acosta, Jr. says the skills his students are learning will ensure they “hit the ground running” when the time comes to enter the workforce. “We’re making sure we have the talent to secure the future,” he adds. The Prologis Trade and Logistics Lab, as the space is formally known, officially opened in May. It expands upon an existing logistics training program at the school and is a key part of Prologis’ Community Workforce Initiative (CWI). Launched in 2018, the initiative is seen as an extension of the company’s commitment to deliver superior customer service by strengthening local communities. Prologis collaborates with local workforce programs to provide mentorship, skills training, internships, and job placement services for people interested in pursuing careers in logistics, distribution, and transportation. Prologis Chairman and CEO Hamid Moghadam says the idea for CWI came from the REIT’s customers. “We heard over and over again that labor shortages were their number one, number https://www.reit.com/news/reit-magazine/november-december-2019/prologis-building-tomorrows-workforce 1/7 12/10/2019 Prologis is Building Tomorrow’s Workforce | Nareit two, and number three issue.” Prologis saw an opportunity, he explains, by bringing in its resources, personnel, and expertise to try and build a bridge between young people and well- paid trade and logistics jobs. Labor Challenges Gary Goldfarb, chief strategy officer at Miami-based Prologis tenant Interport Logistics, LLC, has first-hand experience of the labor challenges Moghadam refers to. He notes that unemployment in the logistics industry is under 3%, making it hard to get talent. “Prologis’ investment into the community makes it easier for us to operate,” he says, particularly as the growth of e-commerce requires more hands-on skills than in the past. Goldfarb says Prologis’ lab will reduce the time it takes to train an employee from about a year to approximately 90 days. That translates into savings of about $30,000-$40,000 per new employee. “Students are learning all of the things we’d have to teach them,” he says. According to Moghadam, the main issue in the logistics business is high turnover, which he says can be up to 50% a quarter. Through CWI’s partnerships, Prologis will help its customers address their labor needs and expand their talent pipelines. In addition to serving Prologis’ customers, the initiative is structured to enhance local economies and help create career opportunities in the communities where Prologis does business. We heard over and over again [from our customers] that labor shortages were their number one, number two, and number three issue. – Hamid Moghadam, Prologis Chairman and CEO Scott Gregory, Prologis senior vice president and market officer for South Florida, stresses the importance of giving back to the community and says initial feedback has been “really positive.” Despite the company’s size, “we operate our teams almost as a family,” he says. Moghadam agrees that Prologis’ efforts so far have clearly been appreciated on a local level. “Communities are embracing this and we’re getting a lot of ancillary benefits in terms of showing that we’re committed to these communities in the long term,” he says. While establishing CWI is not a simple process, he says, “we expect this to be a big part of what we do in each community going forward.” Filling a Gap Miami is one of Prologis’ key global markets in the U.S., Gregory points out, and launching a CWI with the area’s award-winning school district made a lot of sense. The Miami Springs lab is “just scratching the surface” of where CWI could lead, he says. https://www.reit.com/news/reit-magazine/november-december-2019/prologis-building-tomorrows-workforce 2/7 12/10/2019 Prologis is Building Tomorrow’s Workforce | Nareit Students learn skills in a purpose-designed classroom. Alberto Carvalho, superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, describes the experience offered to students at Miami Springs as “relevant, rigorous, and contextually-real education.” He stresses that CWI fills an important gap in the curriculum. “Education today can’t be seen as one- size-fits-all. Students ought to have options that are connected to the economic needs of the nation and future trends.” The partnership with Prologis, he says, “transcends abstract learning and turns it into reality.” CWI Across the Country Throughout the four-year program offered at Miami Springs, students will have access to a state-of- the-art instructional lab, an industry-focused curriculum designed with input from Prologis, and experiential learning opportunities such as career exploration days. Students will also receive career guidance from industry executives and be matched in trade internships after their junior year. GOOD TO KNOW More than 800 individuals have either completed or are currently enrolled in a Prologis CWI program. Tenants expect Prologis’ Miami lab to reduce employee training time from about a year to 90 days. https://www.reit.com/news/reit-magazine/november-december-2019/prologis-building-tomorrows-workforce 3/7 12/10/2019 Prologis is Building Tomorrow’s Workforce | Nareit Reduced training time translates to savings of about $30,000 to $40,000 per new employee, tenants say. The program in Miami follows successes in other parts of the country.EXP, a Southern California nonprofit organization that connects high school students to high-growth jobs, signed on as Prologis’ first CWI partner. Together, the two organizations launched the EXP Internship Program: Powered by Prologis, which places 160 high school students from communities around the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in local trade internships. The students also benefit from job skills training workshops, designed with input from Prologis, and receive career guidance from industry executives. The initiative expands on Prologis’ longstanding support of EXP’s career-based educational programs. In May, Prologis announced that it had partnered in Chicago with the Quad County Urban League on its “Propel by Prologis” job-readiness program. The Quad County Urban League, established in 1975 to address the need for job training, equal access to employment, and the educational enrichment of primarily low-income and minority citizens, designed the three-week program to prepare candidates with hands-on training for positions in material handling, inventory management, logistics, and customer service. The curriculum, which includes input from Prologis’ employees and customers, also incorporates job shadowing opportunities, employability skills development, and financial literacy workshops. Theodia Gillespie, president and CEO of the Quad County Urban League, says “the synergy created by this newest partnership has the potential to make a tremendous socioeconomic impact on the individuals and communities which we serve.” Where Next? Looking ahead to the future of CWI, Moghadam says the program will become global in time, but the challenge in the meantime is to develop an approach that is scalable. https://www.reit.com/news/reit-magazine/november-december-2019/prologis-building-tomorrows-workforce 4/7 12/10/2019 Prologis is Building Tomorrow’s Workforce | Nareit Students in Southern California sign up for workforce training opportunities provided by Prologis. “Building one classroom in one community is great…but ultimately that is a very asset-heavy way of approaching this problem,” he says. If Prologis can develop a virtual online curriculum that leads to student certification, using the latest technologies, “we can come up with something that’s not only leverageable domestically but, if properly translated—not only in terms of language but cultural norms—can be used overseas.” Moghadam adds that so far, CWI has produced many rewards that were unanticipated at the outset. They include the 29-year old graduate of the Propel by Prologis program in Chicago who said in an emotional speech that the initiative taught him to become a leader and enabled him to regain his confidence. “That’s what energizes us to do even more in different locations,” Moghadam says. LinkedIn For Logistics Prologis is partnering with WorkStep, a talent-sourcing platform for companies with warehousing, trucking, and/or production operations that addresses major talent acquisition and retention challenges. By providing consistent access to qualified talent, WorkStep helps large facilities to stay fully staffed, reduce turnover, and remove reliance on expensive temp staffing.“Think of it as LinkedIn for warehouse and manufacturing workers,” Moghadam says. Following its success in Oregon and Washington, WorkStep is now serving Prologis customers in Southern California and is anticipated to expand to additional markets. https://www.reit.com/news/reit-magazine/november-december-2019/prologis-building-tomorrows-workforce 5/7 12/10/2019 Prologis is Building Tomorrow’s Workforce | Nareit This Is Only The Beginning Ed Nekritz, Prologis’ chief legal officer Two years ago, all of Prologis’ ESG initiatives, which include its CWI program, came under the oversight of Ed Nekritz, Prologis’ chief legal officer. He spoke with REIT magazine about some of the opportunities, challenges, and personal rewards associated with CWI. Why did Prologis pick Los Angeles as the starting point for CWI? We identified Los Angeles as the market where we would first launch our pilot program.