You need to show that you were unable to hire someone for an extended amount of time before you can get your hands on slave labor on a visa worker.

Before the plandemic hit, I was looking for a new job. Got laid off, but that's a different story.

These jobs existed then, too. Companies and recruiters were starting to complain that people were ghosting them, after years of companies and recruiters doing the same thing. Pay was decently high, but the jobs still suck. You may think $15 an hour is good, and it's not bad, but when you're going in working in a hot dirty dangerous factory where the only goal is profit, you have no sick or vacation time, and you'll maybe get a $0.15 raise if you get one at all. Some of the companies I checked out had a reputation for being no excuses places. Level 3 snow emergency? Blizzard? Road washed out in a flood? Too bad, be here or be fired. Company wants a laundry list of skills and degrees for $14 an hour? You're not getting it. Do they really need employees or are they just going "Woe is me?"

In Ohio, you can get a maximum of about $500 on unemployment, sans the extras from the plandemic. That's $12.50 an hour. It's not hard to find something that pays more than unemployment, but is it worth the hour drive for that year long contract where they aren't going to hire you but can you after 11 months and 29 days? No. (The plandemic funds end this week. We'll see how that goes.) Is it worth the job where you're going to get 10 hours a week maybe? No. Is it worth the job where the company will just drive you like an Amazon Slave until you break and have to quit? No.

Companies have done some of this damage to themselves. They've had the upper hand for years, and they've abused it by only hiring contractors, underpaying, or just generally being shitty - and now some of that's coming back to bite them.

Sure, the unemployment benefits are adding to the problem. The government constantly screaming "You're going to D I E if you're even 5' 11" away from someone!" scared a lot of people and isn't helping the problem. People tired of shitty jobs that require a lot of effort for low pay isn't helping. But when it boils down, there aren't enough big-boy jobs to go around anymore, and there aren't enough companies that are willing to invest a little in their employees.

Just as an example, I have quite a few years of unusual and unique experience in electronics. I'm essentially a senior tech with engineering experience, there's very little I haven't worked with in some aspect. Employers want that background, they want some of the unique skills I have, but they want to pay $13 on a 6 month contract in Boston. That's what's out there.

People are lazy and value getting paid for staying at home more than going to work and getting paid even if they get paid more at work.

Right now businesses will hire people with less experience and less qualifications.

I know someone doing interviews right now and only 1/10 of the people bothering to apply are even showing up to the interviews.

Hell I interviewed at a place myself and they thanked me for even showing up and they are a major corporation in the industry.