Staffing issues are partly a knock-on effect of lockdown and resulting inflation. Benefits sanctions were suspended once lockdowns started, but never properly r

Staffing issues are partly a knock-on effect of lockdown and resulting inflation. Benefits sanctions were suspended once lockdowns started, but never properly restarted (the civil service presumably doesn't much enjoy sanctioning people). So for a lot of people, they are getting free money without the obligations to seek work that previously went along with it, and benefits/pensions have also been pinned to inflation whereas private sector wages aren't. It adds up to strong incentives not to restart work again.