Since the outbreak of COVID 19 in 2020, the world’s economy is still struggling to make a full recovery. Recently, there has been extreme shipping delays, worker shortages, which follow with high shipping costs.

Brands are now paying ten times the cost of normal shipping charges due to the shortage of workers. There is also such a high customer demand that shipping companies are racing to build more boats in order to deliver to outside countries.

These struggles do not only affect online orders, but they affect retail stores’ ability to keep a steady inventory as well. That is why at many stores, the shelves are bare, or there are not a variety of products left. With the holidays coming up, these delays and high prices could not have come at a worse time. Many families already started purchasing their Christmas gifts in October with the fear that they might have no presents under the Christmas tree.

“We currently expect the market situation only to ease in the first quarter of 2022 at the earliest,” Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd, a huge container shipping company based out of Asia, said.

These problems have been rooted out of China ever since the pandemic caused all factories to shut down. The lockdown lasted for months on end, and products were on backorder for weeks or even months after consumers placed their orders. In addition to the short supply of goods, finding employees has also been difficult for many companies.

Ella Catlett, a junior at St. Dominic High School, used to work at Crooked Feathers Pizza & Wings restaurant in O’ Fallon, during the months of quarantine. She said that there was a shortage of workers, making the workplace more stressful for the few remaining employees.

“There were definitely not enough people to work at the restaurant. Many people would get double shifts scheduled. Most of us were not able to take off work because there was nobody else to cover our shifts,” Catlett stated.

It is clear that COVID has overstayed its welcome in the United States, but it has stayed so long that it is starting to have drastic effects on the economy and workforce of the entire world as well. There is a good chance gift-giving will be kept to a minimum in many families due to the delayed shipping this year. With nonstop orders being made, all we can do is hope that gifts and needed items show up at our doorstep before the New Year.