DECEMBER 2023 7 Yes, there was a run on toilet paper. And hand soap and sanitizers. In fact, for these items, stores were either price gouging with through-the-roof markups or were doing their best to service all by limiting the number of items that could be purchased— usually worked around by having every family member out to make that maximum purchase. While some legitimately needed larger quantities— such as those with bigger families—many sought to profit by selling them via social media at hyper-inflated prices that would have made WWII black marketeers blush with embarrassment. Fortunately, manufacturers and retailers were quick to react, and it appears as though very few, if any, had to find toilet paper alternatives. At the grocery stores, you might not have been able to find chicken thighs one day or pork chops the next. Ground beef was never a gimme. Neither were bottles of soda always available—and usually not the one you wanted. People were buying more cans and frozen bags of vegetables and other foods—just in case. In the pantry, this writer still has a can of chicken—a whole chicken in a can. Two cans. Free Money With the economic shutdown that happened, many individuals were reluctantly wholly reliant on the federal CERB (Canada Emergency Response Benefits) program payments. These payments provided financial support to employed and self-employed Canadians who were directly affected by COVID-19. If you were eligible, you could have received $2,000 for four weeks (the same as $500 a week)—up to four such payments for a total of $8,000. At the time, the writer was self-employed and took the CERB payments, which, while helpful, were about half of what he was used to receiving when working a full-time job the year before COVID. Yes, he was legally qualified for CERB. Even with the CERB payments received, it made food, cost-of-living, and housing costs all quite challenging to manage as family talks regarding where the closest food bank might be was on the table rather than a hot meal. There was some concern from political pundits that CERB payments made some people reluctant to get back to work. Why buy the cow if you get the milk for free? However, quantifying CERB “laziness” is impossible, so we’ll leave it at that. Stuff happens. What are you going to do about it? Workers in Demand One of the more interesting things to arise from the pandemic was worker self-awareness. While many in the retail industry—no, not you— seemingly took the worker for just being a worker, the pandemic taught retailer workers they were a valuable commodity. From stocking the shelves to working the gas stations to working the drive-thru, and much more, these workers began to feel that they were putting their lives on the line and should earn a wage that better reflected their sacrifice for personal safety. There’s also medical staff, police and fire personnel, and those working at retirement homes and in funeral services—all essential. All performing their day-to-day in tough situations. With the pandemic on, however, not everyone was keen to continue to go to work. Not only did those who were near retirement age decide to retire, but the time off allowed many others to determine that their current job wasn’t really what they wanted. Also, when the fears of COVID-19 lessened to allow for a loosening of public restrictions, not everyone believed it and refused to go in to work. Right there, we have a worker shortage. However, fewer workers were required to be physically back at work because of distancing restrictions in place. There was the same available manufacturing space in a factory, but restrictions meant fewer workers could work in any given area. But even with fewer workers being needed, those who were working were working harder, trying to catch up to the needy consumer (again, regardless of the industry). For those workers who did want to work, they were now very much in demand, as retailers faced a thinner workforce even as the consumer desired to visit retailers again—though we should point out that not everyone decided to physically go back and do retail shopping. Order pickers became much in demand as consumers enjoyed—or perhaps took advantage—of the time-consuming physicality of retail shopping and preferred to now have their purchases picked and delivered to their homes. Still, for those in retail, the workers were overworked and overstressed. They are overworked because of the shortage of workers and overstressed because they are doing more work than they are
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