The recent pandemic rendered many people jobless as businesses were forced to shut down in an attempt to reduce the spread of the virus. As the pangs of the disaster caused by the coronavirus have receded data by the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate there is a numerous amount of skilled workers actively looking for employment representing 6% of the labor force and 9.7 million Americans (Irwin, 2021) . Contrarily, information from businesses in the food industry such as fast food outlets indicates a shortage of employees. The disparity is contributed by the government incentives to cushion citizens of hardship by offering remuneration to the unemployed.
A continued labor shortage will have dire implications on the economy in years to come. Businesses may incur losses that lead to dissolution. The federal government has made it easier for the potential labor force to stay at home through unemployed insurance that offers $300 weekly as a cushion for the adversities of the pandemic (Irwin, 2021) . The benefits for filing for unemployment are lucrative as compared to taking some specific kind of job. Economic research suggests that the generous benefits derived from unemployment impedes people's motivation to seek employment.
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Currently, the number of job creation exceeds job seekers. The government incentives on joblessness did not hinder the recruitment by companies. Although, many workers were reluctant to seek jobs as the benefits derived from the government incentives kept them afloat by meeting their daily needs companies were still recruiting in huge numbers (Guilford, 2021) . Approximately a million people were brought on board to work as the economy reopened following the need to have the economy running to mitigate the effects of the recession.
Not all workers that have applied for unemployment are reeling in the benefits of easier access to income as compared to being productive in the workplace. A bartender stated his sentiments on the deliberation of quitting his job to protect his son with an autoimmune disease from contracting the virus. Everyone would do everything in their power to protect themselves and their loved ones. The accelerated development of the vaccine has brought hope in the reopening of economies sooner than later. Vaccinated individuals have a higher probability of returning to work as they are protected. One out of ten vaccinated people takes up jobs. This does not show a causal correlation but it indicates the willingness of those who have taken the jab to seek employment. However, 15% of American adults are skeptical about the benefits and capability of the vaccine to tame the virus and so they would rather not participate in vaccination (Guilford, 2021) .
Schools remain closed and children left at home need caregivers to help in the daily chores. Parents and guardians prefer to stay at home to take care of children, the elderly, and the disabled (Hanspal et al., 2020). The survey conducted by Census Household Pulse had data that showed 6.3 million adults were not working for they were taking care of children working remotely. Another 2.1 million were concern with care for the elderly. In totality, the number signifies 14 percent of the potential labor force away from work due to reasons other than retirement. The demand for the economy to be reopened can be pushing the demand for jobs higher. Nevertheless, as daycares remain closed adults with children and the elderly among them will be obligated to stay home and care for the vulnerable.
Economic activities are usually driven by two factors, greed and fear. The fear of contracting the virus has made many people stay at home to avoid contracting and spreading the virus to their loved ones considering the uncertainties of the pandemic. A technique adopted by businesses to attract the labor force is to increase the hourly wage to potential employees as the economy revives. Businesses are still grappling following long periods of low turnover especially restaurants and hotels that remained closed due to the nature of business operations. On the other hand, companies such as Amazon whose business operations strategy does not pose a threat to public health. Therefore it has had recruits estimated at 500,000 in the trading period ending December 2020 and increased the minimum hourly wage to $15. Corporations in similar business models such as Walmart, Target, and others offering groceries have been hiring at rates competitive to Amazon’s. Additionally, the cost of production in restaurants remains high as the median hourly wage for a chef is $13 and dishwashers $12. This places restaurants in a disadvantageous position competitively.
A yearlong recession has given many workers in different career paths time to contemplate the career choices made especially the people in menial jobs that require mental and physical effort to point of exhaustion with moderate pay. People working in unsatisfying career options have had a period of meditation on the best career paths to undertake. Others have identified inherent abilities that they would not have otherwise known as they were chasing a paycheck. Business models mainly in the foodservice sector had to remodel to provide goods and services to consumers as well as adhering to public health protocols.
The coronavirus was unprecedented and fraught with many uncertainties. Many lives had been lost and it was important for the authorities to be cautious in protecting the public. Many business operations suffered losses and are on a journey to recovery. The labor force is gradually taking shape as the vaccine is a promising victory against the coronavirus. Economic revival is soon to occur as the small and medium enterprises that promote nearly half of the GDP regain operation.
References
Guilford, G. (2021, April 11). The Other Reason the Labor Force Is Shrunken: Fear of Covid-19. The wall Street Journal . https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-other-reason-the-labor-force-is-shrunken-fear-of-covid-19-11618163017?mod=searchresults_pos1&page=4
Hanspal, T., Weber, A., & Wohlfart, J. (2020). Exposure to the COVID-19 stock market crash and its effect on household expectations. Review of Economics and Statistics , 1-45.
Irwin, N. (2021, May 11). Unemployment Is High. Why Are Businesses Struggling to Hire? The New York Times . https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/16/upshot/unemployment-pandemic-worker-shortages.html?referrer=masthead
