Trust me we don’t have pick of the crop, especially for wage jobs. I guess most of them get so many handouts they don’t need jobs, and unfortunately the marketplace is pricing out a lot of employees for small businesses. Bigger companies are throwing so much hourly money at the good people available and such that it’s hard for a small business to pay someone $12 or more dollars just to scoop fries! Prevailing temp low wage for decent folks is about $15-17 in my area. Majority of applicants I can attract for what used to be minimum wage jobs are real rejects that in no way would you want them representing your business. So I do without and stretch me and my good employees thin til someone good shows up. So you are correct employee quality is way down!
the marketplace is pricing out a lot of employees for small businesses
Federal Government's unconstitutional minimum wage artificially drives costs and, thus, prices up and drives business and industry overseas. So does unconstitutional federal government's protection of unions and "subsidies" to (bribes from) big business along with high corporate taxes and regulations.
Trump has attacked some of this up to a point, but there's a lot more to be done.
Again big business isn't the culprit. Big unconstitutional government is far and away the culprit.