How COVID-19 Has Changed Life For Toilet Paper Makers

The COVID-19 pandemic in America has compelled people to buy up (and sometimes steal) ridiculous supplies of toilet paper in droves, especially at the beginning of the crisis. Whatever the rationale was for all of that hoarding, it sure did a good job of wiping away toilet tissue supplies. 

In response to the public's yearning for more toilet paper, many of the larger manufacturers of the tissue like Kimberly-Clark, Georgia-Pacific and Procter & Gamble have put their production into overdrive. This mass production has provided quite the experience for the people who work for these companies, reports VOX.

John Patteson, who works at a Procter & Gamble plant in Georgia that makes Charmin toilet paper, tells Vox that he has been working seven days a week instead of his usual five since March. That's because, as the supervisor of more than 100 workers, he has to working overtime.

Since the toilet paper shortage began, Patteson has been gathering a bag of personal protective equipment to give to each employee before they come in to work on Monday. Every day he and other leadership monitor the status of COVID-19 in the area where the plant is located and in the entire state to ensure departments are able to construct accurate and up-to-date pandemic plans for their staff.

Patteson say he and others have had to change the way they interact with people, too. Before, visitors were greeted at the gate and employees would be close to each other on the floor. This "cultural change," as Patteson puts it, has made work feel differently for everyone.

Read the rest of Vox's interview with Patteson by clicking here.