- 600k+ dead people.
- Increased hiring competition from more remote-friendly jobs.
- Workers who don't want to return to employers who laid them off at the beginning of the pandemic or required them to work in unsafe conditions as "essential" workers.
The 2nd one seems dubious to me: in my experience, people are moving to remote-friendly jobs from within the US...it doesn't explain why we have a shortage of people making pizza.
The last one is the one I'm struggling with: I don't knock people at ALL for making those choices, but if they're struggling to survive and (as others have noted in response to me) unemployment insurance has ended, what are they doing instead of taking a job?
Regarding increased competition for people working from home, you're right. It might not be a huge factor, but I know two people who used to work in IRL service roles pre-covid who now work for call centers from their homes. So it is a possible factor even if it's a small one.