Good morning,
When the Covid-19 crisis first hit, demand plummeted for Romy Taormina's flagship product, a band travelers wear on their wrists to ease nausea.
Now that travel is coming back, the same supply issues that marked the start of the global pandemic are whipsawing her business--and her exasperation is felt by small-business owners across a range of industries in the U.S. Besides the global microchip shortage, which President Biden recently called a "national security issue," electricians can't source the little plastic boxes they need to rewire light fixtures. Contractors are reporting a 200 percent surge in the price of lumber. Even the supply of Taiwanese tapioca is drying up.
While the recent blockage of the Suez Canal may deserve some of the blame--as do extreme weather events like the freak snowstorm that roiled Texas in February--the real culprit remains the pandemic. Hiring, for example, remains a challenge: Some workers still feel unsafe returning to the office or factory floor, while others are now juggling caregiving responsibilities full-time.
Factories are open again, but businesses are still facing product delays, cost hikes, and store closures. Read our story to learn when the shipping issues and product scarcity are expected to finally clear up, and what that means for your company. |
