LogFAQs > #956799443

Hmmm.

615,000 dead, incl. 270,000 people under age 75.
32,400,000 infections. I can't find national statistics by age, but California reports over 80% of cases in people aged 18-69. I'll go with 80%.
Somewhere between 20%-35% long haul symptoms of varying severity, regardless of age or comorbidities. Let's conservatively assume 25% rate, of which 10% are serious.

(32400000 - 615000) * 0.8 * 0.25 * 0.1 = 1270000 + 270000 = at least 1.54 million people directly removed from the workforce by covid, and could easily be millions more if serious long haul symptoms are more prevalent. There will also be significant indirect impact on potential workers who have instead assumed caretaker duties for impacted family. Among working people, white collar workers are less likely to be impacted due to lower exposure, since these jobs are easier to perform from home.

Yeah, I'm not surprised the service industries can't find enough workers.