Fueled by Amazon’s demand-driven hiring push, Berks County’s transportation and warehousing sector grew rapidly in 2022, but that field remains dwarfed by the county’s mammoth manufacturing and health care industries — with local industry leaders East Penn Manufacturing Co. and Tower Health again claiming first and second place, respectively, on the Reading Eagle’s annual list of Berks’ 25 largest employers.
Amazon, Penske Transportation Solutions and Walmart rounded out the top five, with Amazon moving into the third position.
How the survey works
Employee counts were gathered in August, in a countywide survey of 35 area employers. Companies were contacted for polling based on employer size rankings from state data and employment figures from previous years’ surveys.
Some employers noted their numbers are estimates that may not reflect exact employee counts as of August.
Two organizations — Alcon Research and Ashley Furniture — didn’t reply to requests for workforce information. They were placed on the list based on their size ranking according to state data.
In addition, the Reading School District’s numbers are an approximation provided publicly on the school district’s website.
All other employee totals on this year’s list were self-reported by individual organizations.
The annual survey is meant to highlight the employment status of the area’s largest economic producers and provide insight into local growth trends.
Upward movement in transportation/warehousing
One undeniable shift is the upward momentum of the transportation and warehousing industry in Berks.
Nowhere is the sector’s growth more obvious than in the rise of Amazon, which skyrocketed from having no presence in the county two years prior to becoming Berks’ third largest employer, reporting 3,500 total employees this year.
The e-commerce giant brought on roughly 1,500 employees since last summer as part of a push to ramp up operations across its two fulfillment centers in Muhlenberg and Upper Bern townships. Both opened in fall 2020.
“We just do not see those kinds of jumps here in Berks County,” said Dan Fogarty, Berks County director of workforce development.
Amazon now employs roughly one-third of Berks’ more than 10,000 transportation and warehousing employees, Fogarty said.
He said warehousing has been expanding across southeastern Pennsylvania, but Amazon and other companies’ move into Berks was sped by a shift in buying habits brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The sector’s growth is also evident in the steady increase in employees at Penske Transportation Solutions, which added more than 200 employees per year in 2021 and 2022.
The truck rental and logistics company, headquartered in Green Hills, edged ahead of Walmart this year, holding on to Berks’ fourth largest employer spot with 2,483 employees.
Manufacturing
Manufacturing in Berks has always loomed large over other industries, and there are signs the sector is regaining some of its former stature since last year’s survey, which saw the area’s biggest manufacturers, East Penn Manufacturing and Carpenter Technologies, report reductions of over 200 employees each.
Fogarty said a hot market for job seekers has led to difficulty with hiring and retention — a trend that accelerated when some manufacturers downsized during the pandemic — but the industry is showing signs of improvement.
With 7,811 employees, East Penn remains the county’s largest employer.
Although the Richmond Township-based battery producer dropped 97 employees this year, the fact that the reduction is minimal is a sign the industry is recovering, Fogarty said.
Other manufacturers are showing promise as well: Carpenter Technologies rose three ranks since last year’s survey, gaining 134 employees and claiming sixth place, with 2,012 workers.
In addition, Reading-based sportswear maker Elite Sportswear made the top 25 for the first time this year, rising into 23rd place with 740 employees.
Berks manufacturers employ more than 30,000 people, about 17% of the county’s total workforce, and the county still has about 3,000 openings for manufacturing jobs, according to Fogarty.
Health care
The county’s health care industry faced unprecedented stresses during the pandemic, losing about 1,200 employees across Berks between 2020 and 2021, however Tower Health appears to be bouncing back from COVID-induced difficulties.
Tower Health retained second place by a large margin, with 7,396 workers — an increase of 190 since last year.
The area’s second largest health care provider didn’t fare so well. Penn State Health St. Joseph reported a loss of 706 employees — nearly a third of its 2021 workforce, for a 2022 total of 1,471 employees.
Penn State Health St. Joseph didn’t return an inquiry into the reason for the decrease.
Beyond any changes in tabulation, Fogarty said that industry-wide consolidation, and the disruptive force of the pandemic, have caused challenges that health care in the county has yet to fully recover from.
“We’re projecting slow, steady growth in that recovery,” Fogarty said. “We think (health care providers) will get back to where they were in probably another five years.”
Education and government
The public sector again made up the largest portion of top 25 Berks employers, but none of the eight education or government institutions on this year’s list reported a gain in employment.
Instead, the county’s largest public employer, Reading School District, dropped roughly 250 employees, from fifth to eighth place.
The city’s schools fell behind the county government, which lost 120 employees but maintained seventh place with 2,005 workers.
Wilson School District also dropped 97 employees, falling from 10th to 13th place.
All other public employers on the list reported minimal losses of less than 20 employees each, save the federal government, which took 21st place with 820 employees, a drop of 170 from 2021.
Fogarty said the exodus from the public sector is due in part to baby boomers retiring when the pandemic hit.
He said many who retired were able to, thanks to the sector’s characteristically generous benefits.
“Now when (public sector) employers turn around and try to replace the retiring, they’re competing with all these other sectors in a very hot job market,” Fogarty said.
Retail
Employment results were mixed among Berks’ largest retail companies this year, with Walmart falling from third to fifth place after a drop of about 200 employees.
Redner’s Markets, however, rose from 12th place to 10th after gaining 86 employees, and Dollar General also rose substantially up the list, gaining 200 employees and rising from 25th place to 18th.
Increasing wages among some retail employers could be offsetting the difficulties imposed by a job market in which workers are in high demand, particularly for low paying, high-turnover retail positions.
