Though COVID-19 continues to impact many people every day, the worst days of the pandemic are over. Thankfully, the economy survived and, while slowing down, should bounce back surprisingly quickly. Even better, many markets thrived beyond expectations and even expanded. For example, moving companies not only survived but bounced back and expanded in major ways. Here are three ways the industry was affected during the early pandemic days.

More Moves to Owned Property

While it's true that many markets struggled during the pandemic, we noticed a surprising result in the moving industry. According to MoveBuddha.com, homeownership jumped by 11% among those using moving services between 2020 and 2021. There's a reason for that increase. During the pandemic, interest rates reached a historically low point, according to the Urban Institute, a nonprofit research organization. This made home ownership more widely accessible. As a result, young and high-earning Americans capitalized on these low-interest rates to enter the homeownership market.

Increased E-Commerce Self-Moving Usage

Many moving companies saw an increase in self-moving from their customers, including a higher e-commerce market. For example, many customers ordered moving boxes online from them and handled their moving. This increase helped keep many businesses running but also came with a decrease in full-service moving options. However, the moving market did surprisingly well during the early pandemic days. That said, there were some struggles that challenged many within the field and made success a little harder.

Decreased Staffing Capabilities

During the early pandemic days, the American market experienced what experts called "The Great Resignation." Many people quit their jobs and either started freelance careers or collected unemployment. As a result, many markets experienced massive staffing problems that made it hard to counter in already challenging financial times.

As you might expect, this affected the moving industry heavily. Continued staffing shortages caused moving firms to struggle and work extra hours on simple gigs. While those working these jobs made good money, it wore many others out and caused extensive financial issues.

Thankfully, moving companies around the nation weathered these issues and continue to prosper. Many even increased their workload and offered new service options for their customers. If you need help from a moving team you can depend on, reach out to Joe's Moving Co. We look forward to working with you.