Inland Empire Labor and Community Center

BateThe “Thrive Inland SoCal: Labor Market Analysis” offers a comprehensive exploration of the labor market in Southern California’s Inland Southern California Region, made up of Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. Using a mixed methods approach, this report focuses on understanding the various challenges the region’s labor market is faced with, in addition to identifying current efforts to support workers. Using publicly available data, the team examined several variables to understand the context in which the region’s residents currently operate. The team additionally conducted a series of interviews with a variety of stakeholders, in order to better understand the unique challenges and needs of the region. In particular, this report focuses on understanding the high-road approach, which in a workforce context refers to efforts that aim to improve job quality and increase access, especially for workers who experience barriers to employment. Complemented by a comprehensive literature review, an analysis of the data gathered identified the following four areas as major barriers: • Financial: childcare and eldercare, transportation, housing cost, and technology • Social: discrimination, immigration status and language, cultural capital, social stigma, awareness of opportunities, social networking, and youth job seekers • Educational: access to higher education, general attainment, and financial barriers • Environmental: climate-related changes, heat, unpredictable weather

This report provides a snapshot of the labor market and working conditions in the Inland Empire (IE). We document how changes over the last five years, including those related to investment, inflation, and the COVID-19 pandemic, have impacted workers’ employment outcomes, working conditions, and well-being. This analysis marries diverse perspectives from personal narratives from workers collected through in-depth interviews (collected in English and Spanish) with a vast array of quantitative data on labor market conditions.

“The State of Work: Transportation, Distribution, andLogistics in the Inland Empire” offers a comprehensiveexploration of the Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics (TDL) sector in Southern California’s Inland Empire. This pivotal sector, integral to both national and globaleconomies, includes transportation services, warehousing, and logistics services. Despite recent size decline, the TDL sector has shown rapid expansion over the last five years, particularly in warehousing and transportation, significantly impacting the region’s employment landscape.

This report delves into the various challenges and opportunities presented by the TDL sector. Notably, the concentration of warehouses and distribution centers has sparked concerns about environmental impacts, traffic congestion, and job quality. The authors also examine the geographic spread of warehouse developments and their community and environmental ramifications, highlighting the complex balance between economic growth and maintaining quality of life.