Economic Policy

Ho, ho, no: For maker of wooden toys, the struggle ahead of Christmas isn’t finding supplies, but finding workers

In Vermont, some employers, facing unprecedented consumer demand, say the labor shortage is a bigger challenge than disruptions in global supply chains



Maple Landmark employees piece together “name trains,” one of the company's most popular products, in Middlebury, Vt. (Ian Thomas Jansen-Lonnquist for The Washington Post)

By Jeanne Whalen
November 10, 2021 at 7:00 a.m. EST

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. — With eight weeks to go until Christmas, tensions were running high at one of Vermont’s oldest toymakers. As hammers fell on hardwood and machine tools cut train engines, managers gathered around a table to confront a daunting list of unfilled orders.

“We need 32 sets of chess pieces. I don’t have 32 sets,” assembly supervisor Anne Cummings told half a dozen colleagues, sparking a quick discussion of when the items might appear. ... “Umm, hobby horses? We’ll want at least three to get finished by tomorrow at the latest,” process engineer Adam Rainville told the workshop foreman.

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Unlike much of the toy industry, Maple Landmark isn’t suffering from a lack of imported materials as global supply lines buckle. The maker of wooden toys gets nearly all its lumber from nearby mills and has little trouble buying lacquer, paint and sandpaper from its Vermont suppliers. ... As it fields an unprecedented crush of orders, the main factor holding it back is a shortage of workers.

“We’re just really, really busy and hiring workforce is a challenge,” said Mike Rainville, who founded the business 40 years ago. “We could use more in assembly. We can use more in the shop. I mean, really, any production position we can probably use help in.”

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By Jeanne Whalen
Jeanne Whalen is a reporter covering business around the world. She previously reported for the Wall Street Journal from New York, London and Moscow. Twitter https://twitter.com/JeanneWhalen