Wendy Marcus was in the middle of a recent meeting with senior leaders at Newell Brands Inc. when he learned that she needed to leave immediately.
The Newell-owned factory that makes Yankee Candles was once again short of workers, and the factory needed Mrs. Marcus, an R&D manager, on the assembly line to help pack the famous scented trinkets in gift baskets.
“I said to them, ‘I have to work overtime,’ and they just said, ‘OK, thanks and go ahead,'” recalled Ms. Marcus.
American manufacturers have done better to protect their factory floors and contain Covid-19 infections in their workforces. Despite progress, they are still struggling to find enough staff to serve their factories. Shortages of workers are choking off supply chains and delaying delivery of everything from auto parts to candles, while demand is increasing.
Among the strange effects of Covid-19: despite high levels of unemployment, many employers are having trouble hiring enough workers. The unemployment rate remained stable in December at 6.7%. Initial weekly requests for unemployment benefits from state programs, a marker of layoffs, also remained at around 790,000. This is a sharp drop from a peak of almost 7 million in March, but still about four times the pre-pandemic average.