There a large number of issues here.
Here are the issues that I can think of. I am sure others can come up with additional ones
Aging workforce.
Lots of people pulled the trigger during Covid and retired. We have an inverted age pyramid. More older people at the top fewer younger people entering the workforce
Spouses leaving the work force.
Lot of families, due to covid, have re-assessed the two income family model. Covid forced them to make adjustments. They decided now that the positive gains of having 1 parent at home off sets the 2nd income .
End of the 2 job economy.
I think people would be surprised how many workers work multiple jobs. So a tight labor market and growing opportunities at their primary job encourage them to quit their 2nd job
The rise of the gig economy.
Covid forced a lot of people into using home delivery services. 10s of millions of them found they liked using them. Companies were forced to look at jobs to decide what can be done at home. It be interesting study to find out how many workers left the work force to do gig work or work at home.
Worker burn out
After dragging the economy forward for 19 months at a frantic pace while a large segment of the population coasted good workers are burning out. The mandatory OT, the stress, seeing what they worked so hard to build buying less and less they are throwing in the towel. They saying “Maybe I will not makes as much money but I will enjoy my life more.
Excessive Government handouts
I believe this is overstated since the unemployment benefits were scaled back without a large jump in people returning to work. But being over stated does not mean they do not have an impact. Raising the food stamp monthly benefit and the increase in the Earned Income Tax credit are having an impact
Excellence in Posting Award for you!
I get sooo tired of the hand-wringing BS around here. You represent true, useful FReeperdom.
Thanks.
Excellent list. Very interesting...
Impressive list...
Exactly. You are spot on.
It isn’t about the job, the pay, the benefits...it is end of the Job Hustle and resetting of priorities. Which for millions is family and having a life. There was a stress at first due to Covid shutdowns and then they had 18 months to reassess priorities in their lives.