With baby boomers retiring, record low birth rates and severe cuts to immigration, there have been warnings of upcoming labor shortages for years now. I think COVID both accelerated that to some degree and also masked it as it was happening. It reminds me a bit of a Seinfeld episode where Elaine’s boyfriend had been shaving his head for years, and when he wants to regrow his hair he is devastated to learn that in the interim he’s actually begun to go bald!