The largest private-sector employers in the United States today are a mix of retail and parcel companies that have all built out sophisticated logistical operations. In the post-war era, the largest employers were all in manufacturing, and warehousing and distribution were both seen merely as supporting long production runs. In 1962, management theorist Peter Drucker referred to distribution as “the economy’s dark continent.”

In a new monthly newsletter column, Benjamin Fong examines the employer behemoths of the twenty-first century—their business models, their management techniques, and the workers and worker organizing that populate their supply chains.