Key US Delivery Hub Suffering Labor Shortage

Louisville, Kentucky — which was a major delivery hub for U.S. carriers even before the COVID-19 pandemic turbo-charged online shopping — is suffering a severe labor shortage, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday (Dec. 22).

The Louisville/Jefferson County unemployment rate for October, the latest month for which U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data is available, was 3.2%, down from 5.0% a year earlier.

According to federal data cited by the WSJ, the Louisville area lost 93,000 jobs during the pandemic and has regained most of them, bringing the current level to 634,000 jobs.

A big factor in the region’s jobs recovery has been hiring at United Parcel Service (UPS) Inc.’s giant Worldport. Per the WSJ, the company employs more than 25,000 people in the region — about the same as before the pandemic, but they’re working more hours than pre-pandemic.

The WSJ reported that UPS states its work in the region undergirds another 35,000 area jobs. With big employers like UPS increasing wages to fill positions during the pandemic, smaller operations with fewer resources are finding the economics of hiring workers difficult.

“We’re fighting for those part-time employees who say, ‘Hey, should I go work for Amazon, should I work at McDonald’s, should I work at Green District, should I work at Kohl’s?’” Chris Furlow, co-founder of the Louisville-based salad chain Green District, told the WSJ.

As for wages, Furlow reportedly said: “We can’t go down low, and we can’t go super high.” The company, which Furlow hopes to expand to 30 restaurants in 2022, has added 100 employees at its six restaurants, including several eateries in Louisville.

The lowest unemployment rate among metropolitan areas covered by the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest data was Logan, Utah, at 1.1%, while the six regions with the lowest rate were in Utah and Nebraska.

The highest rate was for El Centro, California, at 17.7%, followed by Yuma, Arizona, at 12.4%.  Figures are not seasonally adjusted.