Bloomberg Market Specialist Constantin Cosereanu contributed to this article. The original version appeared first on the Bloomberg Terminal.
The coronavirus pandemic exposed workforce problems that were already beginning.
The Great Resignation has accelerated a demographic squeeze that is the repercussions caused by baby boomer retirements and the decline in birthrates. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the workforce will grow by just 6.5 million workers through 2030.
That means worker shortages will likely persist for years in many industries, even after COVID-19 is under control. Combined with slower population growth and slower immigration rates, companies will likely face trouble finding employees to fill entry-level positions for the long term.
The issue
Chatter from U.S. companies about a worker shortage has seen a rapid rise over the past year, far surpassing mentions of supply chain disruptions in earnings calls.
Companies say they are now paying workers more to combat the problem, offering new benefits and increasing automation to streamline tasks. Some companies mentioning labor shortage as a headwind, or a factor that may cause a decrease in profits, have actually reported an increase in their total number of employees and net income per employee in 2021.
“Labor shortage” was mentioned 451 times in transcripts compiled by Bloomberg over the past two years, more than twice as often as the phrase “supply chain.” Those mentions have increased in each of the last four quarters.
The number of mentions appears to be trending lower this quarter, with most of the index’s members already reporting results. However, “labor shortage” is still more frequent than “supply chain,” “labor costs,” and “inflation.” Bloomberg transcripts consist of conference calls to discuss quarterly earnings and public presentations on mergers, acquisitions or other corporate events –maximizing the research process by scanning millions of documents in seconds.
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