The case of the missing workers

Post Reports

Despite recent headlines about layoffs, the story of many industries is still too many jobs and not enough workers. Today on “Post Reports,” we do a deep dive into the restaurant industry and ask – where did all the workers go?

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A little over a year ago, “Post Reports” Executive Producer Maggie Penman reported on quitters – the millions of Americans who left their jobs during the pandemic. Now, more than a year later, she’s puzzled by the continued worker shortages and “help wanted” signs across so many industries. If workers aren’t staffing restaurants, shops or daycares – then where did they go?

The answer is complicated – it takes us from a restaurant in Massachusetts to a children’s museum in Maine – and tied to big economic trends that long predate the pandemic.

Today on “Post Reports,” we go on a search for the missing worker and uncover years of declining immigration, an aging workforce, a continued lack of child care and the surprising decline of men in the labor force.

Check out the music you heard at the top of the show from Mosaic Mirrors here.