I do genuinely doubt that the “labor shortage” is directly caused by the fatalities, but: 1) It seems obvious that the high fatality rate among line cooks and

I do genuinely doubt that the “labor shortage” is directly caused by the fatalities, but: 1) It seems obvious that the high fatality rate among line cooks and other “essential workers” has driven them out of that line of work. If my colleague died for a line cook job, I’d strongly consider changing careers. 2) We’re running into the consequences of spending a year calling these people “essential workers” and “heroes” after decades of treating them like garbage. They’ve had a taste of dignity and recognition that they’ve been denied for a long time, good luck taking it back away. 3) In many ways this looks less like a labor shortage and more like a capital strike. Unless if you’re in an area where there has been significant migration, the workers do exist and are willing to work … but not at the rates that capital is demanding that they work.