This very unique crisis is creating very unique problems. One is how to get food and other essentials from warehouses all over the country into stores and delivered to people’s homes. This is not optional. The supply chain cannot shut down.
Americans are confined to their homes, watching the rising tide of deaths. It’s an existential moment unlike any other in recent history.
What’s keeping Americans from panicking is the knowledge that the lights remain on, the water still flows, and that food and other essentials continue to arrive.
To keep the food/essentials supply chain open, companies like Walmart, Amazon, CVS, and Lowe’s are hiring in droves. Walmart has announced that it is hiring 150,000 workers for its stores and distribution centers. Amazon is hiring 100,000 workers. CVS is hiring 50,000 store associates, home delivery drivers, distribution center employees and customer service representatives. Lowe’s is hiring 30,000 workers.
In many ways this hiring is giving us a glimpse into the post-pandemic future. Jobs that are disappearing in one sector of the economy are being partly made up in another sector, often at a higher wage. That part of the economy is still functioning.
On the other hand, the food/essentials supply chain was never set up for social distancing or the current circumstances. It’s not surprising that warehouse and store workers are demanding higher pay, virus-related sick time and safer working conditions, all of which they deserve. They are on the front lines of the war against COVID-19 at a critical moment that no one expected.
It’s essential to keep workers safe and compensate them, but equally essential to keep feeding vulnerable Americans who are waiting out the virus. It’s a tough but necessary balancing act.
