US August Retirements and Retirement Rate Hit Record High
LA Port Operating Rate Only 70%
Severe Container Backlog at Major UK Ports Due to Truck Driver Shortage
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suhwan] Amid the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant, the number of workers quitting their jobs in the United States has reached an all-time high, and in the United Kingdom, the shortage of logistics truck drivers is becoming severe. Concerns are emerging that this ongoing labor shortage will worsen the logistics crisis.
US Resignation Numbers Reach Record High
According to the August Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) released by the US Department of Labor on the 12th (local time), the number of resignations in August was 3.27 million, with a quit rate of 2.9%.
Both figures are the highest since statistics began being compiled in December 2000. MarketWatch pointed out that the sharp increase in resignations in August coincides with the spread of the Delta variant.
In fact, many resignations occurred in face-to-face service industries. The food service and accommodation sector saw the highest number with 892,000 resignations, followed by retail and healthcare and social assistance sectors with 721,000 and 534,000 resignations respectively.
Ellis Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a US think tank, told CNBC, "The quit rate reached a record high simultaneously with the rise in COVID-19 cases," adding, "It appears that ongoing pandemic concerns have increased apprehension about working on-site."
Additionally, for the third consecutive month, job openings exceeded 10 million, signaling that companies are still facing severe labor shortages.
The impact of this labor shortage is also being felt in the US logistics industry. Labor shortages at ports are causing disruptions in ship arrivals, leading to a logistics crisis.
According to Business Insider, due to the current labor shortage, the operational rate at the Port of Los Angeles, the largest port in the US, is only about 70%. This has caused a bottleneck in ship arrivals, with 63 vessels waiting to dock as of the 5th. Business Insider reported that it can take up to one month for ships to complete the docking process.
Considering that normally only one ship waits to dock, the media noted that the current bottleneck at the logistics port is extremely severe.
In response to this logistics crisis, major retailers such as Walmart, Costco, and Target are reportedly deploying chartered ships as part of their own countermeasures, according to foreign media.
Maersk Reroutes Ships Due to UK Truck Driver Shortage
In the UK, concerns over supply chain disruptions are growing as the shortage of logistics truck drivers worsens.
Bloomberg reported that amid worsening container congestion at major UK ports, the world's largest shipping company Maersk is rerouting its large vessels originally bound for the UK Port of Felixstowe to nearby countries, where cargo is transferred to smaller ships. Felixstowe handles 36% of container logistics within the UK.
Maersk stated, "There is no space at all to unload containers at Felixstowe," adding, "We are switching to smaller ships instead of large vessels that take a long time to dock."
Foreign media pointed out that the ongoing labor shortage has intensified the UK's logistics crisis amid rising demand ahead of the winter consumer season. Felixstowe officials reported, "Due to the shortage of truck drivers, the docking process, which normally takes four days, now takes about ten days."
In response, Tesco, the UK's largest retailer, has recently been transporting ship containers by freight train and is also experiencing a surge in logistics demand via air freight, according to major foreign media.
Alex Bayche, director of the British Chambers of Commerce, expressed concern, saying, "The port arrival crisis is causing serious problems for the UK supply chain."
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