The impact of the supply chain on ad spend

By Ben Zimmerman, President of Media Design Group.

It's a familiar story now. The Covid-19 pandemic collapsed in 2020, wreaking havoc on the economic path ahead of it. And in 2021, global supply chains have slowed down. These conditions were first agitated by working conditions. As the virus has spread, mask mandates, state-mandated quarantines and other factors have impacted overall workforce availability. Many workers have been forced to miss work due to Covid-19 infections, leading to staff shortages. While some industries have been able to transition to remote working, others have not, and essential workers on the front lines have become the heroes of 2020.

Labour shortages have never gone away. Even when the vaccines - and subsequent boosters - were rolled out, the global economy remained stagnant. New outbreaks of Covid-19 cases have created even more uncertainty in a country already weary of the public health crisis. Across the United States, many workers have turned inward and left their current work situations for greener pastures. In fact, McKinsey found that nearly two-thirds of American workers said the pandemic caused them to think about their purpose. In what has been dubbed the "Great Quit", workers left the workforce in droves. At the start of 2022, job departures and job openings reached historic levels.

Even in June 2022, workforce data still showed a gap of over 5 million between open jobs and available workers. This perfect storm not only caused historic economic imbalances (I didn't even mention how inflation is at its highest in nearly three decades), but it also reduced vulnerabilities and inefficiencies across a chain troubled supply.

Impact on the supply chain

This simplified version of the global economic crisis is not without nuances. In addition to consumers (through higher prices), businesses have paid the price. During the pandemic, demand for some products has skyrocketed, while demand for others has plummeted, forcing manufacturers to expand or contract. Remember the toilet paper shortages? According