How Can Companies Cope With Rising Labor Costs?

SupplyChainBrain
24 Jun 202109:33

Summary

TLDR在这段视频中,Proxima的北美执行副总裁Kent Mahoney讨论了公司如何应对劳动力成本上升的问题。他指出,目前各行业普遍面临劳动力短缺,特别是低薪职业,这在很大程度上是由于联邦政府在疫情期间提供的援助和失业救济金的延长,使得许多家庭选择不工作而财务状况更好。Mahoney预测,随着这些福利的结束和安全担忧的减少,劳动力市场将会出现求职者的激增。他还提到,许多公司已经开始采取措施来应对劳动力短缺,包括提高最低工资、自动化和重新组织角色以减少所需员工数量。此外,他还讨论了供应链中的挑战,以及如何通过改进供应链管理和采购实践来缓解原材料、包装和运输成本上升的问题。最后,Mahoney强调了在疫情期间建立信任和保留人才的重要性,并认为目前的劳动力短缺是暂时的,随着政府援助的结束,人们将很快返回工作岗位。

Takeaways

  • 📈 目前公司面临的主要问题是劳动力短缺和工资上涨,这在低薪职业中尤为明显。
  • 💰 联邦援助和失业救济金的持续发放可能导致一些人选择不返回工作岗位,因为他们在不工作的情况下经济状况更好。
  • 🔍 随着政府援助的结束,预计会有大量求职者进入就业市场。
  • 🛠️ 一些公司已经开始采取措施应对劳动力短缺,包括自动化和重新组织内部角色,以减少所需员工数量。
  • 🏢 零售业等行业的公司可能通过减少人工服务,推动自助服务来应对劳动力短缺。
  • 💡 星巴克和Under Armour等公司通过提高最低工资来保持一定水平的服务,以维持其商品和服务的溢价。
  • 🚚 供应链、仓库、履行和制造领域正面临不同的挑战,自动化趋势正在这些领域加速发展。
  • 🤖 2021年第一季度工业机器人的销售同比增长了20%,用于对抗劳动力短缺的影响。
  • 🌐 尽管有自动化的趋势,但国内供应链的脆弱性促使一些制造商考虑将生产重新迁回美国。
  • 🛒 供应链管理和采购实践需要得到重视,以应对原材料、包装和运输成本的上升。
  • 💼 公司在吸引和保留人才方面,除了提高工资外,还需要建立信任,例如在疫情期间避免过度裁员。
  • 🔄 劳动力短缺和成本上涨被认为是暂时的,预计随着联邦援助的结束,人们将很快返回工作岗位。

Q & A

  • 当前公司如何应对劳动力成本上升的问题?

    -公司正在从多个角度应对这一问题,包括自动化、重新组织角色以减少所需人员数量,以及提高工资来吸引员工。

  • 目前劳动力市场的总体趋势是什么?

    -目前劳动力市场普遍存在劳动力短缺的问题,特别是在低薪职业领域。这种现象部分是由于联邦政府在疫情期间提供的援助和失业救济金的延长导致的。

  • 联邦援助结束后,劳动力市场会发生什么变化?

    -预计联邦援助结束后,会有大量求职者涌入就业市场,因为许多人可能会因为援助结束而选择返回工作岗位。

  • 公司如何应对临时劳动力短缺的问题?

    -一些公司已经开始采取措施来应对可能的临时劳动力短缺,包括自动化和重新组织工作流程,以减少对人力的依赖。

  • 自动化在应对劳动力短缺中扮演了什么角色?

    -自动化在应对劳动力短缺中起到了关键作用,特别是在物流、仓储和生产线等领域,通过机器人和数字技术来提高效率。

  • 制造业如何应对劳动力短缺的问题?

    -一些制造商将劳动力短缺视为一个机会,考虑将生产重新转移到美国,即所谓的“回流”。尽管这可能会受到劳动力短缺的短期阻碍,但长期来看,这可能会促使公司重新考虑其劳动力策略。

  • 除了劳动力成本上升,还有哪些成本在上升?

    -除了劳动力成本上升,原材料、包装和运输的成本也在上升,这对公司的供应链管理提出了新的挑战。

  • 公司应如何降低供应链中的成本?

    -公司需要将供应链管理和采购实践作为重点,寻找冗余的供应链,并开发更好的采购实践和流程,以管理成本。

  • 除了提高工资,公司还应如何吸引和留住人才?

    -公司应该建立信任,避免在疫情期间过度裁员,而是寻找其他减少运营成本的方法,这将有助于公司在市场恢复时吸引和保留人才。

  • 目前劳动力市场的挑战是暂时的还是永久的?

    -目前的劳动力市场挑战主要是暂时的,预计随着联邦援助计划的结束,人们将很快返回工作岗位。

Outlines

00:00

📈 劳动力短缺与工资上涨趋势

Kent Mahoney,Proxima北美执行副总裁,讨论了当前公司面临的劳动力短缺和工资上涨问题。他指出,由于联邦援助和失业救济金的持续发放,许多低收入职业出现了劳动力短缺,因为许多家庭选择不工作而财务状况更好。他认为,一旦这些援助结束,人们将重新回到工作岗位,并且对安全措施的担忧减少将促进就业市场的复苏。然而,一些公司已经开始采取措施应对劳动力短缺,包括自动化和重新组织角色以减少所需员工数量。

05:01

🛠️ 应对劳动力短缺的策略

Kent Mahoney继续讨论了公司如何应对劳动力短缺问题。一些公司通过提高最低工资来吸引员工,例如星巴克和Under Armour。他还提到了供应链、仓库、履行、运输和生产线面临的挑战,以及自动化和机器人技术在这些领域的应用。此外,他指出,尽管自动化和机器人技术正在增加,但仍然需要一定数量的工人。关于国内供应链的脆弱性,一些制造商正在考虑将生产重新转移到美国,尽管这可能会受到劳动力短缺的影响。最后,Mahoney强调了供应链管理和采购实践的重要性,以及公司如何通过建立更好的实践和流程来减轻通货膨胀压力。

Mindmap

Keywords

💡劳动力成本上升

劳动力成本上升是指企业在支付员工工资和福利方面的成本增加。在视频中,劳动力成本上升是一个主要问题,因为企业正在寻求应对策略。例如,Kent Mahoney提到,由于联邦援助和失业救济金的延续,一些低薪职业出现了劳动力短缺,这导致企业不得不提高工资以吸引员工。

💡劳动可用性

劳动可用性指的是劳动力市场上可供雇佣的工人数量。视频中,劳动可用性与工资率紧密相关,Kent Mahoney指出,由于联邦援助,许多家庭在不工作的情况下也能维持生计,导致劳动力市场出现短缺。

💡自动化

自动化是指使用机器、软件或其他技术来执行原本需要人工完成的任务。在视频中,自动化被提出作为一种应对劳动力短缺的策略。Kent Mahoney提到,一些公司正在转向自动化,以减少对人工劳动力的依赖,例如,通过机器人流程自动化和数字技术。

💡供应链

供应链是指从原材料获取到最终产品交付给消费者的整个流程。视频中提到,供应链管理是企业应对成本上升的关键。Kent Mahoney强调,企业需要优化其供应链和采购实践,以缓解原材料、包装和运输成本上升带来的影响。

💡最低工资

最低工资是指法律规定的员工可以被支付的最低小时工资。视频中,Kent Mahoney举例说,一些公司如星巴克和Under Armour提高了最低工资,以保持一定水平的服务,从而吸引和保留员工。

💡弹性需求

弹性需求是指消费者对价格变化的反应程度。在视频中,Kent Mahoney提到,某些公司的产品或服务需求与其提供的客户服务水平不直接相关,即客户服务的弹性需求。例如,大型零售商店可能减少员工数量,引导顾客使用自助服务,而不会影响顾客的购买意愿。

💡联邦援助

联邦援助是指政府提供的财政支持,以帮助个人或企业应对特定情况。视频中,联邦援助被认为是影响劳动力可用性的因素之一。Kent Mahoney指出,由于联邦援助和失业救济金的提供,许多家庭选择不返回工作岗位。

💡工业机器人

工业机器人是指在工业生产中使用的自动化机器。视频中提到,今年第一季度工业机器人的销售量同比增长了20%,这表明企业正在增加对自动化的投资,以应对劳动力短缺。

💡重新安排工作岗位

重新安排工作岗位是指调整或重新设计工作流程,以提高效率或适应劳动力短缺。Kent Mahoney在视频中提到,一些公司已经采取措施重新安排工作岗位,以减少对劳动力的需求。

💡信任因素

信任因素是指员工对公司的信任程度,这通常影响他们的忠诚度和工作满意度。视频中,Kent Mahoney提到,在疫情期间,一些公司通过裁员来减少成本,这可能会损害员工对公司的信任。相反,那些采取其他措施而不是简单裁员的公司,将更容易吸引和保留人才。

Highlights

公司如何应对劳动力成本上升的问题

Kent Mahoney,Proxima北美执行副总裁,讨论当前劳动可用性和工资率的趋势

劳动力短缺现象普遍存在于不同行业,尤其是低薪职业

联邦援助和失业救济金的持续提供可能导致人们选择不返回工作岗位

预计联邦援助结束后,劳动力市场将出现求职者激增

公司采取措施应对劳动力短缺,可能在人们返回工作时减少工作岗位

公司采取不同策略应对劳动力短缺,如自动化和组织重组

某些行业对客户服务的需求具有不可弹性,例如大型零售商店

星巴克和Under Armour提高最低工资以维持服务水平和产品定价

供应链、仓储、履行、运输和生产线面临的挑战

市场趋势显示自动化和机器人技术在应对劳动力短缺中的作用

国内供应链的脆弱性促使制造商考虑将生产线迁回美国

自动化和机器人技术的增长可能减缓,需要人工劳动力

原材料、包装和运输成本上升,公司需优化供应链管理

公司应专注于建立冗余供应链和改进采购实践

公司通过提高工资吸引员工,但信任因素也很重要

公司在疫情期间裁员可能影响其吸引和保留人才的能力

劳动力短缺是暂时现象,预计联邦援助结束后将恢复正常

Transcripts

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how can companies cope with rising labor

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costs

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i'm joined today by kent mahoney he's

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executive vice president of north

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america with proxima

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hi kent hi bob pleasure to be here

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thanks for joining me

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so this is a big issue for companies of

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all sorts these days what is the trend

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right now that you see

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in general labor availability and wage

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rates yeah so i think we're seeing uh

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companies really approach this from a

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few different angles in general we're

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seeing

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a shortage of labor across different

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sectors

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particularly when you start looking at

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the some of the lower paid professions

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that are out there

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a lot of this in in our view is being

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driven by

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um by the continued provision of federal

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assistance throughout the cove and the

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extension of unemployment benefits

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uh that are in many cases just making it

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the logical conclusion to not return to

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work because

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families are financially better off in

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not choosing to do so

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and so we're seeing this lead to a

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significant shortage in labor

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across sector well those are going to

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run out and when they do

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would you expect a flood of of

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applicants in the job market

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i i absolutely think that's correct i

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think as well as people start to

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overcome

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uh some of their concerns about certain

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safety practices that may be available

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once they return to work

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as well you'll see that contribute to

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the surge of of interest and jobs again

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but what's interesting to me is there

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are so many companies that have already

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quite correctly started to take measures

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to counteract even a temporary trend and

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labor shortage

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that may result in there not being quite

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so many jobs once people are looking to

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return to the workforce

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oh so their expectations are well we're

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ready to go back to work now and they

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show up at these businesses and the

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businesses are saying sorry guys we uh

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have already made a other other

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arrangements right

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so preparing for a lack of workers and

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and

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what kind of arrangements might those be

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might they be

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automation might they be reorganization

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of roles within the organization so that

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you need fewer people to get the same

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work done

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what exactly what might we be looking at

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there it's quite interesting

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you see all different ranges of tactics

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for dealing with this issue

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um and it all falls into what sort of a

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company is and how they deal with their

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customer base

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you have certain uh certain industries

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and and companies that are frankly have

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what i would call customer service

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inelastic demand for their goods and

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services

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so we're all familiar with price and

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elasticity but there are there are

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certain companies where the level of

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customer service they provide is not

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directly tied to the demand for their

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goods and services

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a great example of that would be some of

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the big box retail stores

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and you've probably experienced this as

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i have you go in and

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you're looking to buy low-cost goods and

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you might only see two out of 15

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different cash registers being staffed

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right now

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and trying to funnel folks to

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self-service instead but

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it's not going to keep me from going

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there again next week to buy groceries

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because i got a family of six and it's

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the cheapest place to acquire that

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yeah so i'm not turned off by a long

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wait in line

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there are other organizations that are

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seeing that even a temporary decline in

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customer service is going to have a

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significant impact on demand and thus

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their ability to capture that revenue

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and so they have already made moves to

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increase the minimum wage

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uh some examples of that would be

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starbucks under armour is another great

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example of that where they've increased

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their base wage

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for their lowest paid employees because

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they have to keep up with a certain

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level of service

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to continue to continue to justify in

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some cases a premium on their pricing

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for their goods and services

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you're talking here a lot about a lot of

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customer facing positions but what about

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behind the scenes at the supply chain

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what about warehouse

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fulfillment transportation and for that

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matter the manufacturing line what are

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the challenges there

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so there's that's a fundamentally

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different trend that brings me to the

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third type of company right

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which is those that are already

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proactively moving to counter even a

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temporary labor shortage

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and what we're seeing in that market is

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definitely a trend towards further

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automation

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and that's both on a physical labor

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automation as well as an

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office worker automation perspective at

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this stage

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so everyone is continually trying to

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push the boundaries of what sort of

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activities and processes can be

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addressed through robotics process

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automation and digital opportunities

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as well as physical automation

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opportunities and warehousing and

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distribution

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there is something like a 20 increase in

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q1 of this year year over year

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in sales of uh industrial robots and

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that's an increase that we've not seen

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in a couple of years

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and that's really being used to try to

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counter some of these effects

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increase in robotics and automation

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notwithstanding we still need

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bodies in plants to a certain extent i'm

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wondering whether

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all this talk about the vulnerability of

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domestic supply chains has manufacturers

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thinking at least and maybe in some

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cases acting about reshoring coming back

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to the united states and building up

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building plants and reopening plants

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here are they going to have

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will that will those efforts be hampered

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or hindered by the lack of availability

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of

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do workforce need to agree uh it's

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interesting it's one of those things

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where

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it's a short-term hindrance but

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long-term it's kind of forcing companies

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to start thinking about that

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um you know we are seeing some

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manufacturers turn to this as an

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opportunity to to be able to say it's

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made in america again right

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and um almost similar to what we've seen

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long-term

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uh trends in the bpo market where

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companies used to offshore

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uh as much of their back office

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processes as possible to places like

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bangalore and manila

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they've really used uh software

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automation opportunities to bring that

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workforce back in house and get the same

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productivity and cost efficiencies

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uh but just with a smaller uh internal

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team basically we're seeing the same

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sort of thing happen with warehousing

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and distribution

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i think we're going to start seeing the

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um the start of a trend where it's

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moving

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that labor workforce back on shore into

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america

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um but it's going to be a smaller size

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team than what we've seen in times past

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and there and you do seem to be somewhat

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optimistic that

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as we say as the payments as the

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government payments go away

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the people will be wanting to we'll be

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looking for jobs and so

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to the extent they're needed at all in

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warehouses and in factories and the like

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the supply you think will be there yeah

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absolutely and i think

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as with any emerging technology there's

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kind of we're still at that wild

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optimism phase

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around a lot of this and you'll probably

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see a slower ramp up to automation than

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perhaps many will predict so

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you will need those people when they

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return to the world now labor is not the

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only cost going up right now we have

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rising costs of raw materials packaging

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and shipping

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what might what can executives do in

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order to mitigate the potential

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disruptions and the increased costs from

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those

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aspects of the supply chain

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you really have to get your supply chain

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management and procurement practices

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into sharp focus i think what we've seen

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is

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the companies have been focused quite a

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bit on um

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on optimizing some of their direct

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expenditures but not necessarily the

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entirety of the supply chain

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they haven't been very much focused on

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finding uh redundant supply chains where

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they need it

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and because of this they haven't built

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out or developed their uh their

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procurement practices as much as they

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ought to in some cases

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and so what we're seeing now is that's

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all well and good in a deflationary

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environment

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where it's easy to get cost reduction

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measures in place but now that we're

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very much in an

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inflationary market it's going to become

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much more critical that companies draft

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to find those sorts of capabilities and

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skill sets

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bring them on board in the form of

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employees in the form of better

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practices and processes and governance

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models so they can manage those costs

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i don't know that it will ever be easy

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over the next year or so

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to drive hard dollar cost reduction but

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you've got to get the measures in place

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to at least mitigate the impact of

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inflationary pressures as much as

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possible

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well there we are back again to some

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aspect of labor as well

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so i want to bring you back around to

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that discussion again and then ask you

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in addition as you said well certainly

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companies are offering more money

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in certain sectors to attract employees

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back to the workplace but

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beyond that what advice do you have or

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what company should what should

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companies be doing to attract and retain

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talent

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beyond just jacking up wages

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yeah i think it's that there's a little

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bit of a trust factor that goes into

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this right

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and there are some companies where when

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the pandemic hit the first move they

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made was to cut head count as fast as

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humanly possible

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and i understand that because in many

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ways it's the easiest fastest way to

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to reduce operating expense however i

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think what we're going to see is the

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companies that took

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a little bit more care with that and

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found other opportunities than just

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simply head count reduction

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are going to have much better trust in

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the market be able to retain

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and attract the new talent better than

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those that just went full

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full note on the uh the head count

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reduction measure

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and you know any impacts we're talking

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about here do you believe that they are

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to some degree permanent

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uh or is this just a temporary situation

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that we need to work our way out of

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i think it's very much temporary i think

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um

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involved in a lot of activity and

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companies are making the correct news

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uh to try and automate more of their

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process or their

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distribution but it's um it is very much

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temporary i believe it's being driven by

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the federal assistance program and we'll

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see a return to work quite

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quite soon yeah some excellent insights

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kent mahoney

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of proxima thank you very much for

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sharing them with us helping us to

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understand

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what businesses are undergoing right now

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in terms of rising costs and how they

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can cope with them

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thank you very much for being with me

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today really appreciate it thanks bob

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appreciate it

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