![]() The City of Rockville recently experienced incomplete waste collection and asked residents to leave their trash out for several days to allow for delayed pickup. ![]() Shortages Across the Country Rockville, Maryland Garbage truck drivers dealing with a lot of trash. There is a tremendous amount of competition for drivers, which has an impact on the industry’s ability to recruit and retain qualified employees,” she said. “Sanitation collections are competing with deliveries, construction, and other less physical demanding positions. Marylou Berg, the director of communication for the City of Rockville, Maryland, spoke about this competition for labor. There are also more opportunities for drivers as companies such as Amazon, grocery and restaurant delivery services, and other delivery and hauling industries continue to expand. This is reflective of a wider licensed commercial driver shortage caused by an aging workforce, lack of recruitment of women drivers, and an increase in federal and state regulations. Even before the WHO declared COVID-19 a worldwide pandemic in March of 2020, the waste collection industry was facing driver shortages. In some communities, up to 10% of the labor force is absent on a regular basis.” The Problem Goes Beyond the Pandemicīut this problem did not start with the pandemic. Biderman further explains, “Some hauling companies and some local governments continue to see a high absentee rate among their employees. It’s not only an increase in garbage, but also a decrease in the number of workers. This has not only increased an ongoing worker shortage, but has added further disruptions in service.ĭavid Biderman, the executive direction and CEO for SWANA told 9News, “We certainly face a heightened challenge in the waste sector because we have a perfect storm of increased garbage collection from residents because more people are home and more people are eating at home on a regular basis.” The biggest culprit has been the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In May, the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) released a report on the growing challenge of hiring and retaining drivers and helpers for solid waste and recycling haulers in both the private and public sectors. ![]() Solid Waste Industry Struggling to Retain Drivers A shortage of workers in this line of work is not easy to solve and has resulted in some challenging consequences to businesses, cities, and residential customers. One sector that is struggling to maintain its level of productivity is the waste management and hauling industry. It is particularly noticeable in the service industries. This mass exodus from the workforce has touched most industries. With remote work more available, and a test period of not working at all, fewer people are willing to step into the daily grind of day-to-day in-person work again. Theories revolve around dissatisfaction with stagnant pay, an increase in government benefits, and an awareness of the challenges of stressful work that built during the COVID-19 shutdowns. This comes after several months of increasing resignations, setting records in labor markets.Įconomists are not completely sure why this massive increase in resignations is occurring. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 4.3 million American workers quit their jobs in August. Some people are calling it the “Great Resignation.” In October, the U.S.
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