The most recent data show people quitting jobs across the board: 4.4% of all positions in education are open, over 6% in retail, and more than 8% in health care. Open jobs in hotels and restaurants are nearly 9%. That’s almost a million-and-a-half vacant positions.
Note that it’s not always about money (e.g., health care is one of the highest paying fields) But it would be a lot easier to recruit staff to a hospital that limited admissions to “Vaccinated Only”.
It may not all be about money, but the many job openings have to mean people are shopping for better positions.
A friend recently had a receptionist retire. Filling the vacancy has been difficult. No shows for interviews are common. And many submitting resumes have changed jobs multiple times recently. Hiring is not easy these days.
60 Minutes also reported many driven by high rent moving to lower cost areas. You might suspect some of the quitting comes from people moving with their partner to a new city.
As to health care, I suspect many realize health care workers are exposed to whatever new bug is in town. Many deserve extra thanks for the dedication. Taking the exposure risk is part of the reluctance. Long hours and gross understaffing are also components making health care not a great choice right now. Of course those who hire on now will earn a few atta girls and have stories to tell for the rest of their career.
Child care remains a challenge. If you find a day care service that is accepting children, can their infection rate be better than on a cruise ship?
Economics is always like that. Any change impacts people on both sides of the issue. Then people on both sides react and it takes a while for the new norm to develop.
The many help wanted signs out there and the last of the baby boomers (usually from big families before small families became normal) retiring makes you think many have left the work force and no one is around to replace them.
The unknown is how many stay home due to child care issues, fear of Covid, or govt payments. Are the shortages temporary?
If not, some adjustment in the legal quotas seems appropriate. But working people in competition for those jobs will object anyway. Justified or not.