Research: Labor shortages and tariffs are the top concerns for supply chain pros

Seagull Software announced the release of a new research report in collaboration with SupplyChainBrain: Resilience in Uncertainty: Navigating Geopolitical Risks and Data Quality in Supply Chains. The comprehensive study draws insights from nearly 200 supply chain leaders from transportation and warehouse service providers, industrial manufacturers, retailers and food and consumer packaged goods shippers. The report offers a timely look into the challenges—and opportunities—facing organizations amidst an era of global disruption.

The results revealed that labor shortages and tariffs emerged as the top concerns for these individuals and their organizations, highlighting the dual challenge of managing human capital constraints while navigating complex international trade policies. The findings underscore a stark reality: 75% of supply chain leaders report significant disruption from geopolitical events such as tariffs, labor shortages, trade disputes, and regional conflicts over the past two years. Amidst this volatility, the report identifies high-quality, real-time data and item-level traceability as foundational elements of supply chain resilience, risk mitigation, and compliance.

“As the report shows, traceability is only as good as the data behind it,” said Jeff Hart, CEO of Seagull Software. “Data quality isn’t just a ‘nice to have’—it’s the foundation of accurate, reliable, and actionable information about a product’s journey. Without clean, harmonized data, it’s impossible to respond quickly, meet compliance standards, or deliver the transparency that customers and regulators increasingly demand. In today’s global supply chain environment, the ability to track a product from origin to final destination is no longer optional—it’s mission critical.”

Key findings from the report include:

60% of companies plan to increase investment in data quality and traceability technologies in the next 12 months.

A majority of respondents consider customer demands for transparency a primary or influential driver of their data quality strategy.

Despite the value placed on traceability, only 23% of companies have fully operational item-level systems in place today.

The biggest challenges to data quality include inconsistent supplier data (47%), manual data entry errors (42%), and fragmented legacy systems (39%).

“You have some people reacting in anticipation of tariffs and others not reacting at all, which creates differences in readiness,” says Bart De Muynck, Principal, Bart De Muynck Strategic Advisors. “Then you have the administration setting tariff levels and later trimming them back, with companies deciding to wait and see what finally happens.”

The report also highlights the evolving role of traceability technologies like RFID, AI-powered automation, and SaaS platforms in helping companies modernize their operations while addressing emerging ESG, customs, and digital product passport (DPP) requirements.

Seagull Software invites supply chain leaders, regulators, and technology partners to download the full report and join the conversation about building more resilient and transparent supply chains. Visit here to read the full results of “Resilience in Uncertainty: Understanding the Impact of Tariffs, Geopolitical Risk, and Lack of Data Quality in the Supply Chain(https://shorturl.at/M9T0R).”