Page 25 - BusinessWest December 22, 2021

BusinessWest
BUSINESSWEST COM
APRIL 28, 2021 THE BUSINESS JOURNAL OF WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS VOLUME 37 NUMBER 26 $3.00
Coming Next Issue:
ANNOUNCING the Class of 2021 May 12 BusinessWest
Indeed, what can only be called a workforce crisis shows no signs of letting up, with signs saying ‘Help Wanted,’ ‘Join Our Team,’ and ‘We’re Hiring’ still dominating the landscape. BusinessWest covered the story extensively and from many differ- ent angles in 2021, interviewing
“Perhaps the most enduring image from this past year,
at least within the business community, was the help- wanted sign. It appeared in the window of every kind of business imaginable.”
everyone from law-firm manag- ing partners to hospital adminis- trators to restaurant owners. They were all saying the same thing: good help is very hard to find, and for many reasons.
For much of the year, one
of the presumed factors was
attractive (many would say too
attractive) federal unemploy-
ment benefits. But when those benefits ended in September, the problem did not improve appre-
ciably. Meanwhile, the workforce crisis has had a number of side effects of its own, including higher wages, the need for sign-on bonuses and other
incentives, and, most importantly, lost business opportunities from simply not having enough help. And the matter of finding help became greatly complicated by the growing need for help.
That’s why the phrase ‘Great Resignation’ entered the lexicon in 2021, a reference to the mil- lions of people who left their jobs over the course of the year for reasons ranging from the ability to retire early to job dissatisfaction to mandated vac- cinations. Overall, it was a good year to be looking for work, and a very difficult year for those look- ing for help.
Inflation and the Supply Chain
‘The Rising Cost of Everything.’ That was the headline on a BusinessWest cover story in late May. That same headline could have worked in every month since. Indeed, the price of just about everything, from steak to lumber to used cars, kept heading skyward.
Last month, in fact, inflation hit its highest point in almost 40 years. The Consumer Price Index, which tracks the price of a broad range
of goods, rose 0.8% in November and is up 6.8% from a year earlier. The biggest risers included food, housing, cars (both new and used), and gasoline. Energy costs in November were up 33% over a year earlier, food costs were up 6%, and used car and truck prices climbed 31%.
The most recent echo of such severe inflation took place in the 1970s, a situation spurred by dis- ruptions in global oil supplies. Inflation rose from below 3% in 1972 to above 13% in 1979, prompt- ing the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates to
as high as 20%. By 1982, inflation had receded, but the experience shaped monetary policy for decades.
Build your legacy with Keiter
Our passion is to help our clients build the integral foundations of their legacy.
▶ LEARN MORE AT KEITER.COM
YEAR IN REVIEW
DECEMBER 22, 2021 25
The Pandemic Has Made a Big Problem That Much Worse
... Page 6
BusinessWest