Proximity certainly is an issue. Not every job needs a physical presence but many employers simply refuse to let go of the paradigm of having people gathered in

Proximity certainly is an issue. Not every job needs a physical presence but many employers simply refuse to let go of the paradigm of having people gathered in a centralized physical location. Hard to feel bad for them when they refuse to adapt. To make matters worse, some that relent decide it's a smart idea to kick their employees in the mouth for pushing things in this direction by charging them $20k, $30k, $50k or more for the privilege of not commuting into a physical location each day. So those employees leave. Maybe going to a competitor. Maybe getting out of the industry. Maybe taking some time off. Wherever they're going, penny proud, pound foolish thinking is destroying many company workforces. For other industries such as truck driving, it's understandably frustrating to increment compensation up and still not be able to fill all of the empty positions. I suspect there's simply too much money washing around through unusual channels right now, which is hiding some of the inflation that needs to happen to account for the rapid increase in the money supply. People are finding ways to make ends meet that don't involve a fulltime commitment to an employer.