The majority of the CFOs, who represent a wide range of business across multiple industries, expect the challenges to last well into 2022. It says their companies are experiencing supply chain disruptions that have fueled production and shipping delays as well as an increase in materials prices.
The CFO survey, released Thursday, was compiled by the Fuqua School of Business and the Federal Reserve Banks of Richmond and Atlanta by Duke University.
Roughly 10% of respondents said the supply chain difficulties will be fixed by the end of this year, but most CFOs anticipate the problems will not be resolved until the second half of 2022 or later.
In addition to the fractured supply chain, the executives said hiring was even more pressing concern. About 75% of respondents said their companies are having difficulty filling open positions, which is prompting most of them to raise wages by about 10% to fill vacant positions.
The supply chain challenges during the pandemic have been well documented, and on Wednesday the White House announced it would work with companies and ports on a 90 day sprint to alleviate bottlenecks. Some will be working 24 seven days a week to address the backlogs. Around the world, ports are congested as a result of rapid recovery in demand for commodities and goods as much of the global economy has recovered from the pandemic. In turn, shipping costs have soared, and companies struggling to move goods are struggling because there just isn't enough ships or containers available. All the while, prices are going up for consumers.