https://archive.ph/2022.10.02-210044/https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2022/10/02/americas-economy-is-too-strong-for-its-own-good
"Spread over the entire economy, this is a powerful trend. America’s workforce today is basically the same size as in 2019. Its composition is, however, very different. There are 1m more workers in transportation and warehousing, reflecting the rise and rise of online shopping. At the other end of the spectrum, more than 1m workers have left the leisure and hospitality sectors over the past three years. According to the National Restaurant Association, a lobby group, roughly two in three restaurants are understaffed. Thus the slowdown in growth may lead to a smaller rise in unemployment than it otherwise would have done. Companies suffering from worker shortages have little fat to trim."
A bunch of people died, certainly. But the death toll was concentrated in the elderly.
This employment cycle is being compressed because of Boomer retirements on the top end and fewer people having children on the bottom end. The boom in the stock market last year kicked off a bunch of retirements. Graduating classes are shrinking. We won't let in working class migrants, so the service sector is depleted.
This goes far beyond the COVID crisis of '20. We've been staring down the barrel of a population crunch since at least 2008.
Yes, I meant that covid conditions were exasperating preexisting problems.
In terms of retirement and an "imbalance" between young vs. old, a fuckload of old people dying in the pandemic would actually alleviate some of that "imbalance". Big scare quotes around imbalance the word "imbalance" because a system that depends on constant population growth to maintain social programs and almost-okay employment rates is sociopathic and in no way balanced for anyone except the ruling class.
Technically speaking yes liquidating pensioners is a viable way to balance your budget from a certain point of view