The pandemic has put unprecedented strain on global supply chains— and also on the workers who’ve kept those systems running under tough conditions. It looks like many of them have had enough.

Service organizations, like many others, are feeling the effects of today’s talent shortage.

A lithium producer for carmakers including BMW AG and Tesla Inc. is beginning work to assess battery metals projects in Xinjiang, deepening links between electric vehicle supply chains and a region at the heart of human-rights allegations against China.

There are a lot of people who have the necessary training and experience to drive trucks. So why the shortage?

The White House is monitoring labor talks in the logistics industry as unions representing 115,000 rail workers and 22,000 West Coast dockworkers negotiate fresh contracts, but won’t get directly involved in either bargaining process now, its supply chain envoy said.

About 70,000 truck owner-operators who form the bedrock of California’s transport industry are in limbo as state-level labor rules start applying to them, creating another choke point in stressed U.S. supply chains.

Each wave of supply shock to hit the global economy during the pandemic seems to produce a different scapegoat.

A narrowly avoided strike last week offers a glimpse of what could be coming next year — when General Motors, Ford and Stellantis negotiate new four-year contracts for their roughly 150,000 U.S. employees represented by the United Auto Workers.