Warehouse Supervisor job description

Two federal codes cover this job. O*NET describes it as 53-1042.00, first-line supervisors of helpers, laborers, and material movers, hand. BLS folded that occupation into a broader wage code, 53-1047, first-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, and the pay comes from there: a May 2025 median of $62,890, with $43,360 at the tenth percentile and $96,150 at the ninetieth, across 621,500 supervisors counted in 2025. BLS expects about 18,800 more of these jobs by 2035. An earlier BLS wage survey, from May 2023, broke the pay out by industry, and the gap there was plain: a mean of $67,750 in warehousing and $68,920 in truck transportation against $48,380 in grocery retail, inside a range of $39,440 to $92,140.

Core Duties and Responsibilities

A supervisor runs the floor rather than the building: assigning work across pickers, loaders, and lift operators, balancing labor against the day's outbound schedule, and answering for throughput at shift change. Maintaining a safe working environment comes first in the task record, then solving work problems together with crew and managers, then reviewing work during the process and at completion. Hiring belongs to this seat too, reviewing credentials and interviewing, and so do training assessments, safety meetings, and the records of employee time and wages.

Common Skills and Technologies

Coordination and Management of Personnel Resources come before everything else, with Speaking and Instructing close behind. The systems are the practical ones: warehouse management and inventory systems, SAP, and enough Microsoft Office to run a labor plan. Oracle Database and Access turn up in larger operations, and time accounting software is in the record because somebody has to sign the hours.

Education, Training, and Career Path

Most supervisors learn this on the floor they came off, which is why the formal preparation level is only Job Zone Two. Only 35 percent of the education answers put the requirement at high school; 31 percent call for college coursework, 21 percent a post-secondary certificate, and the last 13 percent a degree. Warehouse manager is the step up, at a median of $107,230, and it generally wants five years of related experience behind you.

Sources: O*NET 30.0, 53-1042.00 First-Line Supervisors of Helpers, Laborers, and Material Movers, Hand, https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/53-1042.00. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, 53-1047, https://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2023, 53-1047, https://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.