Quick answer

Move into employees and logistics when a named manual task is limiting the business. The official store description supports HR Managers, Logistics Managers and Purchasing Agents, along with desks, computers, headquarters, imports from the harbour and distribution through warehouses. Start with the bottleneck, add the role that addresses it, then test whether the operation actually improved before hiring across the company.

Name the bottleneck before hiring

Staff are useful when they take over a job that is already understood. Ask which of these is consuming the business’s attention:

| Bottleneck | Candidate system | First observation | | --- | --- | --- | | Hiring and people administration | HR Manager | Whether staffing tasks are delaying the operation | | Moving products through the network | Logistics Manager | Whether deliveries or warehouse movement are the constraint | | Acquiring the required goods | Purchasing Agent | Whether purchasing work is the repeated manual limit | | Central coordination | Headquarters, desks and computers | Whether the new management layer has a real job to perform |

These role names and systems come from the current official store description. It does not publish one staffing ratio or exact threshold for every business.

Transition from manual work in stages

Use a small transition loop:

  1. Observe one repeated manual task over a normal operating cycle.
  2. Add the role or infrastructure intended to own that task.
  3. Check whether the original bottleneck moved or disappeared.
  4. Keep the change if it creates capacity; otherwise review the cost and assignment.

This prevents the common mistake of hiring a manager because the role exists rather than because the business needs its work. It also makes the full-release transition easier to compare with older Early Access guides.

Imports and warehouses are a network task

The official description says larger businesses may import products from the harbour and distribute them through a network of warehouses. That is a different task from opening the first shop. Before adding the network, map the current flow: where goods enter, where they are stored, which business needs them and what movement is currently manual.

Do not assume that one warehouse, one manager or one import route is optimal for every business. The current save, product mix, space and update state change the answer. Use the live logistics and purchasing screens to confirm assignments and capacity.

Track whether automation helped

After one staffing or logistics change, compare the same business question before and after:

  • Did the original manual task take less attention?
  • Did stock availability or delivery timing change?
  • Did the new cost create a different cash constraint?
  • Did the player gain time for a more important business decision?

Recent Steam reviews discuss the move from micromanagement toward automation. That is a useful player signal for prioritising this page; it is not a fixed performance guarantee.

What this page does not claim

This page does not publish exact wages, desks-per-manager ratios, warehouse capacities, import costs, delivery times or a universal automation order. Those values need current full-release observation and can change with patches or save context.

Frequently asked questions

Which managers are supported? The official store description names HR Managers and Logistics Managers, and it also names Purchasing Agents.

When should I hire employees? Hire when a repeated manual task is the current bottleneck and you can observe what the new role is meant to improve.

When do warehouses and imports matter? They become relevant when the business is large enough that product acquisition and distribution are a named network problem, not merely because the feature exists.

Is there one best logistics setup? The initial official evidence supports the systems, not one universal network. Check the current business, product mix and save.

Continue with logistics manager decisions

If movement is the bottleneck after staffing, continue with Logistics Manager before changing the whole supply network.

Sources

Last verified: September 1, 2026. Staff, logistics and economy values should be rechecked after full-release patches.