Hypothesis: this is the result of a long period of labor surplus. If, as seems to be the case in some places like Austin, TX where I live, we are now moving in

Hypothesis: this is the result of a long period of labor surplus. If, as seems to be the case in some places like Austin, TX where I live, we are now moving into an era of labor scarcity, there will come unexpected problems. Like, if you find that sometimes important functions don't get done on time because there were not enough people to do it because someone quit unexpectedly, but it's not technically your employee so you don't have much leverage in figuring out what the problem is to make sure you don't get caught short-staffed again. The reason to have an employee is to make sure they are available when you need them. If there are always a surplus of people willing to be there, then outsourcing is a way to reduce your costs. But, if that changes, then the downside of "it's not your problem" becomes more apparent; it still is a problem that impacts you, it's just not _your_ problem, so you can't do much about it. Only some parts of the U.S./world are in a labor shortage situation right now, of course. But until recently, just about nowhere was, and had not been in a long time, so I wonder if this is going to be a painful lesson for some companies.