Offering great jobs to Spokane-Coeur d’Alene workers

American labor continues to be in a privileged position. As the economy recovers from the pandemic with companies unable to supply products quickly enough, blue-collar workers are in high demand. Even more, the federal government is subsidizing weekly unemployment benefits of about $300 to $400, which further demotivates the labor force to get back to work.

Here in the Spokane-Coeur d’Alene area, we see a lot of opportunity for workers to produce once again, but it remains to be seen whether the labor accepts the incentives.

CW Crates & Pallets is a company that prioritizes employee satisfaction by offering a generous pay and benefit packages, allowing us to do our part in getting the wheels of the economy rolling again.

For a small business, we are proud of how we attract extraordinary talent. Let’s compare this to what one of the largest companies in the world, Amazon, is offering potential employees to work at the fulfilment center here in Spokane.

How CW Crates & Pallets offers great jobs in Spokane-Coeur d’Alene

1. Competitive wages

First, we know that taking care of our employees is the best way to take care of our customers. Our starting wage is $15 per hour. If shop employees work out to be a good fit and are focused on expanding their skill sets, we expect them to be at $18 per hour within 2 years.

Furthermore, we provide quarterly bonuses that range from $1,200 to $2,000 per year. Employees feel good about their contributions and know what they need to do to continue advancing to their next pay level. Plus, we match 401K contributions dollar for dollar on the first 4% of wages, which is the highest percent of wages most people contribute.

2. Top health insurance options

Then there are more benefits to sweeten the pot. CW offers a Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Plan, where each employee can choose whatever health/vision/dental plan they wish, or none at all. Thus, they save their allotted monies for their kids’ braces, eye surgery, or whatever they choose with potentially no co-pays or out of pocket expense.

Not only do we provide healthcare reimbursement for direct employees, but our plan includes spouses and children.

3. Growth-oriented workplace

We also offer more workplace practices that employees find refreshing, which give them personal fulfilment by allowing them to grow professionally. These include:

• Having a variety of different daily tasks to avoid boredom.

• Realistic job time and quality expectations.

• Cross training on multiple job tasks and skills.

• Advancement opportunities.

• Paid training.

4. Friendlier workplace

At CW Crates & Pallets, our team members work in a collegial work environment of about a dozen people. This quickly squashes toxic employee actions and moves those employees along if they don’t turn around their poor behaviors.

Above all, this fosters better relationships between workers and managers, preventing our workers from feeling like just a number in anonymous sea of thousands of disposable assembly line workers.

And, a little gesture of sociability is allowing Spotify Premium music to be played in the shop, giving all employees their say in what music gets them motivated throughout the day.

5. Extra perks

Finally, we offer a few more incentives, such as:

• Free lunches daily.

• A gym membership.

• Free work boots after 3 months and biannual thereafter.

• Paid volunteer time off.

• A yearly company Christmas party.

How Amazon attracts its workers

On the other hand, Amazon recently announced that it was hiring 500 warehouse workers at its Spokane fulfilment center, enticing labor with an average starting pay of $16.65 per hour and a signing bonus of up to $1,000. This sounds like a sweet deal that might appeal to some of the same workers as ours.

However, we need to look at the fine print:

• The bonuses are paid out in installments and only if the worker is still employed at the time the payout is due.

• The bonuses are only available for a limited time and are subject to additional terms and conditions for specific job types and shifts.

• While the company also praises its growth opportunities as far as salary and responsibility, it is unclear how much time must pass before a higher wage or a promotion can happen.

Also, these advancement options are only for full-time workers. In the past, Amazon has relied on temporary labor with contracts that allow part-time hires to only be employed for certain shifts. Unfortunately for them, they could be told they were not needed that day at the last minute. This would mean that the thousands of part-timers would be excluded from achieving any tangible job growth.

We have heard workers describe Amazon warehouse employment as monotonous, grueling, and with constant surveillance. Most importantly, its mandatory fast pace can lead to injuries, though the company says it's working hard to reduce them.

Other complaints of mistreatment led to a push toward unionization at Amazon, though the measure was overwhelmingly voted against, and the company has promised to learn from the experience. There are many other issues facing Amazon, but we would rather focus on our own ability to do more for the workforce in the Spokane-Coeur d’Alene area.

Working at CW Crates & Pallets

If you are looking for a fulfilling career that allows you to use both your brain and your brawn, treats you with dignity and respect, and gives you the ability to adequately provide for yourself and your family, CW Crates & Pallets is the place for you.

Please contact us if you want to know what jobs are available and to see whether we, as a small business, can really do more for locals when compared to a 100+ billion-dollar conglomerate.