Prologis Addresses Labor Shortage Issues With CWI Program

Industrial REIT Prologis Inc. (NYSE:PLD) recently expanded its Community Workforce Initiative (CWI) to Miami, by announcing the launch of Prologis Trade and Logistics Lab in partnership with Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS). This move comes amid e-commerce boom, growth of the logistic real estate markets at a substantial pace, while shortage of labor remains a pressing concern.

The latest effort marks the company’s second logistics-focused workforce development and internship program under the Prologis CWI after its successful roll out in Southern (NYSE:SO) California earlier this year. In January 2019, construction of the Prologis Trade and Logistics Lab will begin, while the first students will be enrolled in August 2019.

The initiative involves the company’s partnership with local workforce programs in order to offer mentorship, skills training and internships for people interested in building their careers in the logistics, distribution and transportation sectors. These sectors are currently facing a major shortage of labor.

Particularly, the Prologis Trade and Logistics Lab will be accommodated in the Miami Springs Senior High School, and more than 300 students enrolled in the five M-DCPS high school Trade & Logistics Programs will have access. During the four-year program, students will benefit from the industry-focused curriculum designed with input from Prologis, experiential learning scopes, like career exploration days.

Such efforts will not only benefit the communities where Prologis operates, but will also aid its clients tackle their labor requirements.

Of late, industrial REITs have been gaining traction as high consumer spending, strengthening e-commerce market, and a healthy manufacturing environment amid recovering economy and job market are spurring demand for this real estate category. This is significantly driving growth of industrial REITs like Liberty Property Trust (NYSE:LPT) , Prologis and Duke Realty Corp. (NYSE:DRE) . Moreover, for estimated development levels, base labor need is of around 452,000 warehouses and distribution workers in the United States for the next two years, per a CBRE Group (NYSE:CBRE) forecast.

Nonetheless, with rising supply of industrial real estate space, there is lesser scope for any robust rent hike in the near term. Also, any protectionist trade policies may have an adverse impact on economic growth, as well as the company’s business over the long term.

Prologis currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). The company’s shares have appreciated 1.8% in six months’ time compared with its industry’s growth of 2.1%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone!

It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market.

Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020.

Click here for the 6 trades >>