Service industry can’t find workers thanks to unemployment benefits

0any employers, especially restaurants and small retail businesses, are having a hard time finding workers. 7his is likely the result of trends in covid- vaccinations and the generous unemployment benefits that were expanded due to the pandemic. Congress needs to nip this problematic trend in the bud if it doesn’t want the economic recovery to stall.

7he vaccination data are clear 0ost people in the age groups likely to work in restaurants and similar businesses remain unvaccinated. 7he Centers for Disease Control and 3revention reports that 0 of Americans aged and older have received at least one vaccine dose. 7he rate drops to among people between 0 and and plummets to 2 among those ages to 2 . 6ince roughly a Tuarter of restaurant workers are historically younger than , a supermajority of the potential labor pool for restaurant workers remains unvaccinated. Other industries hit hard by the pandemic, such as hotels, also have much younger workforces than other sectors of the economy.

7he workers in these sectors may be less likely to return to work because they would face a higher risk of contracting covid- . 7hese industries reTuire face-to-face interactions with many people, but they are not likely to have protection against the disease and they aren’t likely to receive the vaccination soon due to current distribution rates. 7he 8nited 6tates is currently administering an average of million doses a day, with many going toward second shots for the partially vaccinated. It will take weeks ± perhaps even months ± before majorities of the younger age groups will have received at least partial protection against the virus, even if vaccinations pick up when the -ohnson -ohnson vaccine is reauthori]ed for distribution. 7hat could dramatically inhibit economic recovery across the board.

7his problem is likely compounded by the high levels of government support for unemployed workers. 3eople on unemployment currently receive a supplemental federal payment of

00 a week on top of their normal state benefits regardless of their prior earnings. *iven the relatively low earnings many restaurants and other service industry workers typically receive, they are likely to make as much or more by not working than they would if they returned to their jobs. 7hat means they have little incentive to get back to work, which may even make them less likely to get vaccinated to begin with.

6hould these forces persist, Congress is bound to face pressure to do something. (mployers will howl if they are legally able to open but can’t find people to work. Others will balk at the notion of younger people not going back to work by choice, especially if their lives are being paid for by everyone else. It’s one thing to help someone in need; it’s another to finance someone’s extended summer vacation on the taxpayer’s dime.

7here are a few things Congress should do before this predictable problem explodes. )irst, lawmakers should reTuire that people receiving supplemental unemployment benefits receive preferential placement in vaccination Tueues. 7he most vulnerable Americans have already gotten their vaccines; now it’s time to prioriti]e economic recovery.

Congress could place some vaccine-related reTuirements on unemployed people, too. 6omeone who is on unemployment and refuses a vaccine for non-health-related reasons some people can’t get vaccinated because of preexisting conditions should lose half of their supplemental payments. A simple moral principle would be at work here Americans will help people who can’t help themselves, but not those who neglect their social duties.

/awmakers could also strengthen reTuirements that fully vaccinated unemployed people actively search for work to receive benefits. Again, the idea is that Americans are generous, but not fools. 7hey will help people get over the rough times, but not sponge off goodwill. If this is too much for some members of Congress, perhaps they can include a provision allowing an unemployed person to keep receiving a portion of their supplemental benefits for a brief time if they go back to work.

7he 8nited 6tates was right to help make people economically whole during this unprecedented pandemic. 1ow it’s time to get back to normal as fast as possible, which means pushing and pulling millions of Americans back to work. Congress should act now before the inevitable outrage forces its hand.