Obviously there is no one reason that explains everything, and different areas will have different experiences.

But one big thing that I think many people don't realize is how many older people just said "Fuck it!" and retired early (or simply unplanned) during the pandemic.

Instead of dealing with HR demands to get vaxxed and masked, or because they were apprehensive about getting Covid themselves, or because they needed to help out family members who worked by taking care of their young children, or whatever reason, they just retired. And haven't gone back.

Remember that the Boomers are the largest generation. So when they retired, it opened up a hell of a lot of high and mid level jobs. So millions and millions of people upgraded their careers. So many of those jobs that are having difficulty finding hires are what's left over.

And once companies allowed employees to work remotely, it opened up another employment avenue that siphons off workers from retail and restaurants.

Then there are the non-traditional jobs that have come about mainly because of the pandemic. Personal grocery shoppers and errand runners are a couple of the most obvious.

I don't think it's necessarily that "no one wants to work anymore" than it is that the pandemic forced pretty much the entire population into re-examining what they're working for.

Priorities have changed. Personally, what I have noticed about many of the people I know is that they value their time and ability to do what they want, when they want more than they do having a large house, nicer cars, more stuff,etc...

I'm not saying they're slackers. They pay their bills, put money in savings, and are responsible human beings.

But they don't see the point in working to buy a bunch of stuff they don't want or need, and instead spend more time doing the things that are important to them.

Basically they've decided to stop being wage slaves. 🤷‍♀️

Edited to add: Take notice of the industries where employers are saying they can't find workers and that "no one wants to work anymore!".

It will be mostly restaurants, retail, and health care. These are some of the absolute shittiest jobs to have. Even before the pandemic, these industries were always looking for workers.

These are the jobs you get because you're either too young to know better and have no work experience (restaurants and retail) or because you want to help people (healthcare).

Those are the jobs that get ditched first when anything slightly better comes by.

And then look at age groups. To over simplify and over generalize it to the extreme;

Remember that Boomers were able to put themselves through college flipping burgers and are at the end of their working lives, and have the greatest freedom. They work because they want to and for socializing.

Xers paid for college with student loans and most have had things paid off for about 6 months now and are finally getting those better paying jobs Boomers are retiring from now.

Millineals paid for college with student loans that they're still paying off, along with hooking on the side, and the occasional sale of a kidney or other black market organ. They're delivering doordash and making YouTube videos.

Gen Z, well, bless your hearts, Gen Z. I really don't know what you're doing. But you'll probably be living with your GenX parents until they die.

Obviously there is no one reason that explains everything, and different areas will have different experiences.

But one big thing that I think many people don't realize is how many older people just said "Fuck it!" and retired early (or simply unplanned) during the pandemic.

Instead of dealing with HR demands to get vaxxed and masked, or because they were apprehensive about getting Covid themselves, or because they needed to help out family members who worked by taking care of their young children, or whatever reason, they just retired. And haven't gone back.

Remember that the Boomers are the largest generation. So when they retired, it opened up a hell of a lot of high and mid level jobs. So millions and millions of people upgraded their careers. So many of those jobs that are having difficulty finding hires are what's left over.

And once companies allowed employees to work remotely, it opened up another employment avenue that siphons off workers from retail and restaurants.

Then there are the non-traditional jobs that have come about mainly because of the pandemic. Personal grocery shoppers and errand runners are a couple of the most obvious.

I don't think it's necessarily that "no one wants to work anymore" than it is that the pandemic forced pretty much the entire population into re-examining what they're working for.

Priorities have changed. Personally, what I have noticed about many of the people I know is that they value their time and ability to do what they want, when they want more than they do having a large house, nicer cars, more stuff,etc...

I'm not saying they're slackers. They pay their bills, put money in savings, and are responsible human beings.

But they don't see the point in working to buy a bunch of stuff they don't want or need, and instead spend more time doing the things that are important to them.

Basically they've decided to stop being wage slaves. 🤷‍♀️