Employers are still struggling to fill open positions, though the President of the MS Manufacturers Association–John McKay–thinks Governor Tate Reeves’ decision to opt out of the federally expanded unemployment benefits program in June will help. During an interview on The Gallo Radio Show on SuperTalk Mississippi, McKay explained that two constraining factors continue to have an affect: labor and the supply chain.
A good example would be the computer chip shortage affecting the auto industry, and any technology that requires chips. “There were some shutdown affects In Asia mainly. That’s where these chips are manufactured. There was a bottleneck coming out of the worst parts of the pandemic. Then, there was a surge in demand with autos and appliances. When people were stuck at home, they were remodeling and buying all these products.”
McKay says there’s another factor most people aren’t aware of. It involves cryptocurrency. “There are massive amounts of computer technology involved in mining cryptocurrency. Again, that strains those same supply chains.”
Industries are offering signing bonuses and bumping up wages to try to get people back to work. “Starting in high school, we need to be training for the skills that are in demand. These aren’t your 20, 30, 40 years ago vo-tech jobs. These are high-tech, high demand, high paying jobs that just need that additional training that has been lacking over the last few years.”
