LEGISLATIVE PRIORITY
Challenges and Opportunities
PHOTO BY DICK DUBROFF/FINAL FOCUS
BY JAMES DECHENE
AS 2021 DRAWS TO A CLOSE, it seems like a good time to reflect on what the past year has brought, and what to watch for in 2022. For many, this year was a continuation of last. Many are still working from home and figuring out where their kids need to be and when—along with (re)learning dreaded programs like Schoology. For others, especially if you are a beach business, it was learning how to handle record breaking crowds with about half staff. While it seems like 2021 was significantly better than 2020 in terms of learning how to deal with COVID-19, we still have a long way to go back to normal. Of note is the continuing worker shortage. As noted, many businesses in the restaurant and hospitality sector were—and continue to be—forced to rely on fewer staff to continue operating. Stories from the summer described staffs banding to together to cover for a vacant head chef position and learning on the fly how to work both the front and back of the house. Some restaurants were forced to limit menu choices and amounts due to lack of sourcing, and some were forced to significantly reduce hours—even close—because there just wasn’t enough staff to remain open. This issue doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon, and businesses must keep thinking creatively to hire and retain DELAWARE BUSINESS | Nove m be r/ De ce m be r 2021
employees. Employers offering significant sign bonuses and pay well above minimum wage are still struggling to find help, which may mean a faster adoption of cost-cutting measures such as automation to replace frontline positions, such as cashiers, along with an even greater shift to online shopping as retail stores struggle to balance keeping costs low with rising wages. Another impacted industry is construction. Facing similar worker shortages, the industry is soon to be awash in federal stimulus dollars focused on improving the nation’s infrastructure. While it will be a boon to many, the fights now begin to secure soon-tobe scarce resources and materials. For example, there are only so many hot-mix plants providing road paving material. With a race to put fiber in the ground for broadband expansion, production of conduit and fiber lines must be scaled up significantly to handle the demand. The cost of steel quadrupled since pre-pandemic levels. The tightrope walk to success will be balancing a labor and materials shortage against the deadline to spend the stimulus money. Commercial real estate continues to be impacted by COVID-19 and the work-from-home phenomenon. With many large employers, especially in the City of Wilmington, continuing to allow their employees to work from home for the foreseeable 3
