Wendy Marcus was in the middle of a recent meeting with senior leaders at Newell Brands Inc. when she learned she had to leave immediately.
The factory owned by Newell, which produces Yankee Candles, was again without workers, and the factory needed Mrs. Marcus, a research and development manager, on the assembly line to help pack the famous scented perfumes into gift baskets. .
“I told them, ‘I need to change overtime,’ and they just said, ‘OK, thank you and move on,'” Marcus said.
US manufacturers have managed to protect their factory floors and contain Covid-19 infections in the workforce. Despite progress, they are still struggling to find enough people to secure their plants. Lack of workers stifles supply chains and delays the delivery of everything from car parts to candles, just as demand increases.
Among the strange effects of Covid-19: despite high levels of unemployment, many employers face problems with hiring enough workers. The unemployment rate remained at 6.7% in December. Initial weekly claims for unemployment benefits from state programs, an indicator of layoffs, were also constant at about 790,000. It fell sharply from a peak of nearly 7 million in March, but still about four times the pre-pandemic average.