In nearly 30 years of experience, Mike Mosher has seen almost everything—except a pandemic. Fortunately, PackageIt’s warehouse supervisor says the company had an agile response to the recent crisis. While the economy ushered in mass layoffs and sweeping business closures, the
Seattle packaging supplier
tightened its warehouse workforce and shifted other employees to telework.
“Before COVID-19, we were already working to increase company flexibility and equipping associates to work from home. When the virus hit, we had to execute those changes almost overnight,” Mike said.
Like most Greater Seattle businesses, PackageIt is facing harsh realities brought on by the unprecedented COVID-19 economy. A Q1 2020
Yelp Economic Average (YEA) report
found that Seattle and San Francisco had the highest rates of first-quarter business closures, temporary or permanent, compared to other major metros. Thanks to a family-owned and -operated business culture that prioritizes team members and their families, PackageIt has retained personnel when other companies have been forced to furlough staff or downsize to skeleton crews.
“PackageIt could have gone the layoff direction, too, but they took a different approach and kept everyone employed. Management could see, even before the stay-at-home order came down, that critical changes needed to happen, though,” recalls Mike. “First, we reworked employee schedules. Our IT team responded immediately to equip staff for telework. I split the warehouse staff into two teams (early morning and afternoon) to prevent crossover and maintain a backup team in case folks were quarantined.” To combat supply chain disruption and protect against customer shortages, PackageIt also maintained close contact with key manufacturing partners and vendors.
All in a Day's Work
With the COVID-19 reality proving catastrophic for many businesses, PackageIt is weathering the storm. According to Mike, a self-professed problem solver, he has no problem wearing extra hats to support his employer’s new business reality. On any given day, he oversees shipment preparation, pulls next-day orders and keeps in touch with shipping partners to assure on-time delivery. “I also manage customer issues, whether they have concerns about order accuracy or status. If something occurs on our end, I fix it,” says Mike. “I basically fix things all day, and it suits my personality. I love helping people and working with my team to create solutions and workarounds for every situation.”
Operations Manager Bill Gunning relies heavily on Mike’s expertise during routine and not-so-routine times. “Mike is an integral member of our OPS team. It’s evident that he takes his role seriously, and he brings value to whatever situation he is in at the moment. His ability to take responsibility for his work, his team’s work, and the company’s welfare demonstrates his character. We are fortunate to have him on our staff.”
Before joining PackageIt five years ago, Mike Mosher had a varied career—as operations manager of a Nevada PetSmart warehouse, a team lead on Alaskan fishing boats and an Amazon warehouse supervisor. While with Amazon, he traveled around the country, opening new warehouses for the e-commerce giant. “I’ve had an interesting life but working in Alaska was especially eye-opening. I was in charge of offloading fishing boats, managing quality control and ensuring safe fish storage. The Alaskan fishing industry is a whole different world,” Mike jokes. “People are unique. Very sarcastic—and interpersonal interactions are completely different. I had total culture shock when I came back.”
May 2020 marks Mike’s fifth year at PackageIt, where he says it’s quite a contrast from his former life. “People like being here. It’s a smaller, family atmosphere, and it is so much easier to get things done than it is in the corporate world,” he says. “When I have concerns or want to make a change, it’s as easy as walking upstairs to talk to my boss. There’s no red tape. Plus, we are off for the holidays to spend time with family. I haven’t had that luxury in years of retail work.”
“My job is great. I have a super solid team and rarely have any issues with the associates. The warehouse team works well together, and we’re efficient—so we get everything done in the time we have,” says Mike. “It sure makes it easy to come to work.”
Meet Mike, Off the Clock
PackageIt’s “Good Neighbor” Initiatives
Like most of the world, Mike prefers the pre-pandemic days. But he and the PackageIt team are settling into their new normal—complete with face masks, gloves and social distancing. “Throughout COVID-19, we are especially proud to help our manufacturing customers who distribute critical materials for use in medical supply production,” said Mike. “These suppliers provide the materials to make PPE and medical equipment for Washington hospitals, and without PackageIt’s supplier connections, they would have to find other sources. That takes time and puts them at risk for price gouging, so they like to work with us.”New Paragraph
