The “Big Quit,” the “Grey Wave,” whatever you call it, it’s happening. COVID-19 concealed the impact of the demographic shift behind soaring, transitory employment disruptions in the US, but the long-term effects of the pandemic have provided space for many to re-evaluate their circumstances and exit the workforce.
Combined with a resurgence in economic activity, this phenomenon has created a labor shortage unlike anything before. This is not a shortage of skilled people that can be addressed with training and education, nor a shortage of willing workers that can be mitigated by raising compensation. There simply aren’t enough workers to satisfy demand.
The pandemic forced transportation providers to relearn the critical importance of recruitment and retention and the need to develop individual value propositions for each and every employee. Those organizations in the supply chain that embrace this — and I mean really embrace the individual circumstances of their workers and build their operations around them — will win.
This will take far more than providing bonuses, funding tuition, or engaging non-traditional communities. It will require accepting what a potential or current employee is willing to offer the company and molding opportunities around that.
Automation of various elements of the supply chain can no longer be viewed as a threat to employment, but instead must be embraced as a means to facilitate operations and keep up with demand. Trucking carriers are going to have to do a lot more, with a lot fewer people to get it done. Operators have been hearing about this shift for decades, and it’s now here. The nearly two-year COVID-19 disruption simultaneously hid the trend behind a curtain and accelerated it.
The biggest challenge facing US surface transportation in 2022 is the same challenge facing every industry for at least the balance of this decade: There aren’t enough people to do the work required.