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Pandemic Created Yarn Shortage + New Crocheters

(Diana here: Article is from April, 2021, but there’s a LOT of interesting ‘insider baseball’ information here as th why we are seeing yarn shortages - along with lots of other things.)

It’s been a year since the first North American lockdown when the world came to a screeching halt. Most of us will never forget what we have lived through and the adjustments we have made in our lives.

The lockdown created free time for many people and suddenly hobbies that were thought to being one day I will learn, suddenly became the day to learn.

The pandemic caught manufacturers and retailers by surprise in being prepared for what was next.

What few people consider is the supply chain of product movement. My specialty in my life was logistics. If you have heard my backstory, I worked in courier and then trucking as a driver and then internal office in trucking. I have worked during the Christmas and seasonal rushes over the years and man oh man, it was relentless hell. By the time Christmas came and working right up until Christmas Eve, the last thing I wanted to do is celebrate Christmas. All good wishes and sweetness is thrown out the door when things are delayed. People can be so ignorant to not see the entire picture and only think of their individual needs. The pandemic for me has been groundhog day, day after day.

Don’t even get me started on people complaining about slow deliveries. I’ve been in those worker’s shoes! It’s anything but joyous.

*SNIP*

With North America locked down and millions of workers bounced out of their jobs.
With millions more adjusting to working from home or in a limited capacity.
With staffing being cut due to social distancing concerns. It caused delays and semi-permanent adjustments to having fewer people being allowed to work in the same space.
This created shortages of people-power to be working in distribution centres and at first, ground to a halt but companies had to figure out how to work in a safe manner but still kept moving.
There was a lag-time of about a month of no shipping that had already started but was opened again. Not just finished goods but also raw materials that companies rely on.

Manufacturing is considered an essential workplace but manufacturing had to adjust to maintaining safety while doing the job. The yarn industry quickly adjusted while other companies were still trying to figure the future out. Small things we take for granted had to be considered.

While North America is trying to figure out what is going on in the manufacturing, distribution and retail sense. One thing didn’t stop, online sales which then created the next biggest wave of problems.

https://thecrochetcrowd.com/pandemic-created-yarn-shortage-new-crocheters/

(Diana, again: My ‘Mystery Box’ of yarn was supposed to be delivered yesterday. FedEx says it’s made it from NJ to KY, so there’s hope, LOL!)