I assume it varied greatly by region, but my experience was that it was extremely difficult to find workers during the pandemic response. It seemed like a comb

I assume it varied greatly by region, but my experience was that it was extremely difficult to find workers during the pandemic response. It seemed like a combination of fear and restrictions, plus free money at least in the US. I saw hourly rates for physical labor jobs go through the roof, double the pre-response rates and still couldn't fill positions.