This increases risks for everyone from large manufacturers down to individual purchasers of food and other necessities. Much progress is being made quickly. But there is also increasing emphasis on contingency planning, to consider how to get by should systems fail. They include stockpiling raw and packaged materials, increasing inventory levels and securing alternate supply sources. Energy reliability is an issue.
Electrical disruptions are a concern.
Large companies are in fact doing this. Many people are on the fringes of society, and will have experienced such scarcity before. Many others, accustomed only to plenty, may experience it for the first time. Many governmental and social agencies that normally help people overcome such scarcities might themselves face resource shortages that would impair their ability to help, perhaps at the very time their help is needed most. Because of our worldwide technological interdependence today, Y2K may lead to major systemic failures.