Page 26 - BusinessWest December 22, 2021

BUILDING HISTORY
SINCE 1897
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One of the main drivers to the current inflation crisis, of course, has been a broken global supply chain — an issue with so many interlock- ing factors, it’s hard to see it resolving any time soon. The earliest factor was a widespread economic shutdown in the spring of 2020; when the economy began reopening at high speed later that year, supply chains — for products like steel, lumber, and other key supplies — were slow to respond to growing consumer demand, and never caught up.
Add in serious delays in freight shipping, a bottleneck of shipping
“One of the main drivers to the current inflation crisis, of course, has been a broken global supply chain — an issue with so many interlocking factors, it’s hard to see it resolving any time soon.”
containers across the globe, and a persistent shortage of workers, and the result is additional strain on businesses and soaring prices all the way down the supply line — which eventually reach consumers in the form of, you guessed it, inflation. Untangling all of this will be one of the big challenges facing policymakers and business leaders in 2022.
Changes in the Workplace
If 2020 was the year of remote work, then 2021 was the year of deciding if, when, and under what circumstances people would con- tinue to work remotely. And for many businesses, deciding just what to do became a stern challenge.
Many arrived at a hybrid format as the most common-sense solu- tion, a mixed approach that had employees working remotely most days but in the office at least one or two. However, many employees, citing how well they worked at home, questioned whether the hybrid approach was needed or even effective.
Meanwhile, the changing dynamic created still more challenges for those confronting the ongoing workforce challenge. Indeed, beyond salary, benefits, and workplace culture, many job seekers put the abil- ity to work remotely high on their wish list — or demand list, as the case may be.
Sarah Rose Stack, recruiting director for Holyoke-based Meyers Brothers Kalicka, summed things up poignantly in a piece she wrote for BusinessWest in October. “Employees are actively seeking remote
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Employers are switching to remote and hybrid workforces, which means more time at home.
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