The success of the ongoing coronavirus vaccination program, with about one half of the U.S. population already vaccinated, and the dramatic drop in hospitalizations and positivity rates, support the conclusion that the pandemic is all but over. In response, almost every state has reopened for business with few, if any, lingering restrictions. However, the long-anticipated reopening of the economy has hit an unexpected roadblock — a serious lack of workers to fill the millions of available positions.
With the massive loss of jobs during the pandemic due to layoffs and business closures, both temporary and permanent, the expectation undoubtedly was that the reopening would see a rapid return of those workers who had been sidelined for those many months. The expected mass return has been more of a trickle of returning workers. Millions of job openings are going unfilled.